So the Trauma
by King in Yellow
Summary: Shego wakes up in the hospital with a headache, but no memory of how she got there or the last several years of her life. What they tell her makes no sense. Will she even want her memory back? Story can serve as an introduction to the Best Enemies series.
1. The Persistence of Memory

Boilerplate Disclaimer: Disney owns everything Kim Possible.

The Best Enemies series is the largest Kim Possible series on FF.N, in terms of number of stories. I hope this will provides a basic overview for someone put off by the number of BE stories.

NoDrogs created Kasy and Sheki whose origin I altered - as you'll see if you read this.

Lyrics to _The Year of the Cat_ by Al Stewart & Peter Wood.

**The Persistence of Memory**

_On a morning from a Bogart movie  
In a country where they turn back time  
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre  
Contemplating a crime_

Shego's head hurt, badly. When she finally opened her eyes her presence in a hospital room did not seem surprising to her, although she could not remember what she might have done to end up here. The red-haired doctor seemed vaguely familiar and Shego tried to think of who she might be. Thinking hurt. Everything in her head hurt, but the green woman fought the pain and tried to think of why the woman looked familiar. She finally focused on the woman's name tag, and was startled to read, "Anne Possible."

"Sharon! I'm so glad you're awake!"

_"Sharon? How does she know my name is Sharon?"_

"You really need to leave the hero work to Kim," Anne laughed. "Although at the moment you're very popular."

_"Has she lost her mind? Are they trying to mess with my head? What did they give me? I feel terrible."_

"That was quite a concussion. I don't want you going back to the office for at least a week, even if everything is fine. But I need to make sure everything is fine. Up for some tests?"

_"Office? What office?"_ "Uh, sure."

Shego didn't remember the date. Given the fact she had been unconscious for almost two days it wasn't surprising. Vision, reasoning, and numerical analysis appeared fine. When Anne questioned her about most recent memories the green woman begged for a break - her head hurt too much to concentrate.

Shego's last memories were of stealing a giant laser for Drakken in order to bore a hole in the earth's crust in Wisconsin, but she didn't think Anne Possible wanted to hear that.

Anne smiled. "Okay, but we do need to finish checking you over. I guess the rest can wait until later. There are some special people who want to see you."

_"The police!"_

Shego tensed as Anne walked over, opened the door, and called down the hall, "Girls, she's awake."

There were squeals of delight and the sound of little feet flying down the hall. Two small girls, perhaps age five or six, burst into the room. "Eemah!" "Eemah we love you."

Shego stared at the odd little children. Their skin color seemed vaguely like her own. One had red hair and one dark green. Who were these girls?

"Can we kiss her, grandma Anne, can we kiss her?" the redhead demanded.

"Is she going to be all right?" the dark-haired girl wanted to know.

"Sharon, are you up for a little company in bed?" Ann asked as she picked the red-head up over the railing on the hospital bed.

Before Shego could say, "Keep the creepy midget away from me," the girl had snuggled up beside her and started kissing her.

Shego tensed again as someone who looked like a slightly older version of Kim walked into the room. The woman seemed happy to see her, "Is she okay, Mom?"

"The first tests went well. Her ability to heal is amazing, but she's still in a lot of pain--"

"Kasy, don't hurt Eemah!" Kim warned

"-- so we won't be able to finish tests until tomorrow."

"Can we stay a little while?" Kim asked.

"Better not. I'm breaking rules now to let all three of you in here."

"Okay, girls, we need to go," Kim announced, picking up Kasy.

"No fair! I didn't get to kiss her," Sheki protested.

Kim laughed and picked the second girl up and let her kiss Shego. Kisses from the odd little kids seemed somehow acceptable, but after Kim set the dark-haired girl back on the floor she announced, "Mommy's turn," and leaned over.

Shego's eyes went wide with terror and she tried to slide away, but there was no room and moving hurt. Kim kissed her! "Can't wait 'til you get home," Kim whispered, "you're going to get a reward you'll never forget."

_"I have to get out of here,"_ Shego thought. _"These people are crazy!"_

"Scoot," Anne told her daughter and grandchildren. When they were gone she turned to Shego, "Rest is probably the best thing for you. You shouldn't even think about going home. Is there anything you need?"

"I, uh, think I'm fine Dr. Possible."

"Dr. Possible?" The redhaired woman stared at her, "Are you sure you're okay, you haven't called me Dr. Possible in years."

"My head really hurts."

"Understandable. Let me get you something for the pain." Kim's mother went to a small table with various medicine bottles and returned with a large pill and a glass of water. "This will help with the pain. It should help you sleep too. Use the call button if you need anything."

Shego palmed the pill and pretended to take it with the water. She was not going to take any drugs from this woman. She smiled and lied, "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I'm going to go call Susan and tell her you're awake."

"Susan?"

"Your mother. She's staying at the house and helping Kim with the twins."

_"She knows my mother? What in the hell is going on? What house? What twins?"_

Shego tried to figure out a plan of action. The first thing she needed were some clothes, since she did not want to run around in a hospital gown. Options appeared to be to knock out a nurse and steal clothing or hope against hope they had left her black and green cat suit in the hospital room. She pressed the call button and waited.

The nurse was a man, and tall, but she could roll up the pant legs. "Can I help you?"

"My things. I was wondering if they left my clothes."

He opened a cabinet door. "Everything's in here. Did you need something from your purse?

_"A purse? I don't carry a purse!"_ "Yes, thanks." _"Maybe there's money in it."_

He brought her the handbag and left, "Call me if there's anything else."

She dumped out the contents of the bag and started rifling through them. There was a little more than a hundred dollars in cash. She grabbed that to put in her leg pouch, then remembered that the hospital gown didn't have a leg pouch to complement the fact it didn't have a back. She put the money down on her right and looked through the other items. The makeup she put down on her left hand side as useless to her. The driver's license bore her real name, 'Sharon O'Ceallaigh'. The photo was awful; it aged her. The whole thing made no sense. She would never have applied for a driver's license using her real name; she would have used an alias. Two credit cards carried her real name as well. The police had obviously captured her, but why were they trying to make her think she had lost her mind? Why didn't they just put her in prison? Were they hoping to get information on one of Drakken's plans from her? This whole set up was too elaborate to make sense. It hurt her head even more to try and think about it.

Something sleek caught her attention. She thought it might be a makeup case of some sort, but it opened up into a fancier cell phone than she could remember seeing. It even had a background picture - the two small girls who had visited her in the hospital. She wasn't sure how to use the features on the phone, but played with buttons until she accessed the contacts list. "Who are these people?" she wondered at the list of names she didn't recognize - and even odder were some of the names she recognized: Alice - home and office, Anne and James - wasn't Kim's mom named Anne?, Bon, Courthouse… courthouse?, Global Justice - Why in the hell would she have the Global Justice number on her phone?, Justine and Felix, Kim - home and GJ, Monique, Rabbi Ruth, there was even the number for some school. She recognized a single name that might do her any good - Drakken. Of course he couldn't risk coming down to the hospital to break her out - besides the idiot might get a swelled head if he managed the feat. She'd slip past the guards outside her door and call him after her escape.

Shego got out of bed slowly. Standing hurt, and she held on to the bed for a minute until the dizzy spell passed. She staggered to the door to see how many guards they had watching her. Unbelievably the answer appeared to be none. They must think she was going to die.

"Hey, you shouldn't be out of bed," a nurse called.

"Need bathroom…"

The woman came over and helped her to the bathroom. The busybody nurse insisted on waiting until Shego finished in the bathroom and helped the green woman back into bed.

"Did Dr. Possible give you your medication?"

"Yes, she did."

"Good, you'll probably be drifting off here in a minute - can I get you anything?"

"I'm fine. Please, pull the door almost shut. I don't want noise from the hall disturbing me."

"No problem."

Shego waited just a minute after the nurse left before getting out of bed and starting to get dressed. The clothes were green and black, nicely tailored, and fit her perfectly, but she didn't own any clothes like these. Shego continued to wonder who was playing with her head, and why.

Standing and moving hurt, but also helped her regain some motor skills. Still, she knew she couldn't make it out through the window or over the ceiling panels. Standing by the door she peered out through the narrow opening. She could glimpse just enough of the nurses' station to watch for a moment when the nurses were all making rounds. She then walked out, found the nearest exit, and went down the stairs to the ground floor and left the building. She congratulated herself on a job well done.

Shego planned to get a mile or two from the hospital before making her call, but found herself exhausted after only a couple blocks. She ducked into a small Asian grocery and got out the phone. Before she could call, a woman left her place by the cash register and came over to her, "You lady in newspaper?"

_"Must have seen a wanted picture."_ "No, I haven't been in the newspaper."

"You look like lady in newspaper. She big hero."

"I'm flattered you think so. But it wasn't me."

The woman moved back to help a customer, and Shego wondered if she had tried to take another woman's identity - but it seemed utterly impossible that there could be another Sharon O'Ceallaigh.

It took Shego a minute to find the contact list again and call Drakken.

"Lipsky and Load," a woman answered.

_"Lipsky and Load?"_ Shego hesitated. "I was looking for Drakken."

"Who shall I say is calling?"

"Tell him…" She couldn't say Shego, she didn't know who this woman was. The green woman remembered an aunt Drakken had once told her about and gave that name.

A minute later Drakken came on the line, "Hello?"

"Drakken, it's me," she gasped.

"Aunt--"

"Not your aunt, you idiot. It's me, Shego. They captured me and--"

"Captured?"

"You didn't even notice I was gone?"

"No, I--"

"Look, I escaped, but I feel rotten. Bring a hovercraft and--"

"I'm not using the hovercraft anymore."

"You're not?"

"No, not up to FAA code yet."

Shego snorted, "Yeah, right. Like you care. What's the real problem? You can't get 'em to work without me?"

There was a real note of concern in his voice, "You don't sound right. Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not. They gave me some sorts of drugs. They--"

"You were in a lot of pain. They--"

"They're trying to make me think I'm crazy. You've got to come get me."

Drakken put two and two together quickly, and while the answer he came up with was five he realized something was wrong. "I'm on my way. Where are you?"

She looked out the window and told him the name of the intersection.

"I'll be there as fast as I can," he promised.

Drakken used the driving time to think. Shego suffered from sort of delusion, probably brought on by the accident. He knew he should call the hospital, but if she really imagined police were after her she might panic and injure someone - very likely herself. He would try to calm her down.

Shego began to panic as she watched the traffic through the store window. Whatever they'd given her had screwed up her brain, she saw cars that she felt certain didn't exist driving past.

Drakken double-parked and Shego went out as quickly as her headache allowed. She had never felt as happy to see him as she felt at that moment. He was the first thing which had gone right since she woke up.

He helped her into the car, leaned the seat back and told her to rest.

She rambled about her fears as he drove out to the former lair. That scared Drakken. Shego never admitted fears, at least not to him. He needed to calm her down and decided to simply agree with whatever she said, no matter how odd it sounded. It appeared to be some sort of amnesia, but how deep wasn't clear. Wondering if her escape had made the news Shego turned on the radio before Drakken could stop her. "-appellate judge for the seventh circuit. She is President Obama's second nominee to the Supreme Court after--"

Shego turned off the radio. "President Obama?"

"What about him?"

"Did someone assassinate Bush and Cheney?"

"No, they--"

"Impeached for incompetence?'

"No, they--"

"You got any good news for me?"

"Uh, we're almost there," Drakken told her, glad for the chance to switch topics.

Shego stared at the sign, 'Lipsky and Load,' in front of the building. "What in the hell is going on with the lair?"

"Hiding in plain sight. A new strategy, make people think I've gone legitimate."

She held his arm going in. Several people she didn't recognize greeted her, some calling her Sharon and others Shego.

Two young men, apparently twins, seemed startled to see her, "What are you doing out of the hospital?" one demanded.

"She escaped," Drakken told Tim. "She needs to rest before we take over the world." He turned to Shego, "It's getting hard to find good henchmen."

"I'm calling Mom," Jim said when Drakken and Shego were out of hearing range.

"No way, something's wrong. We need to talk with Doc first."

Shego's room was one of the bits of the old lair more or less intact, although Drakken would not be able to keep Zita from having the walls torn out and remodeling it into office space much longer. The green woman had very little left there, but the bed with its green and black sheets was familiar to her. She laid down and smiled at him.

"Anything I can do for you?" he asked.

"Promise you won't let them get me?"

"Who do you mean?"

"Whoever did this to me, whoever screwed up my head…"

"I promise," he told her. Shego closed her eyes, feeling safe for the first time that day.

Jim and Tim waited outside the door to Shego's room for the blue man to emerge. "Spill it," Jim demanded when Drakken came out.

"Spill what?"

"What's going on with Shego?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, I haven't seen her."

"She just came in with you."

"No she didn't," Drakken said firmly. "She's not here. And now you will excuse me, I need to go call your mother and ask what I would need to do about her, if she were here - which she isn't."

Jim, uncertain if he should believe Drakken, pulled out his cell phone and speed-dialed his Mom, "Here," he told his boss, handing him the phone.

"Hello, Jim? Can't talk now, Sharon is--"

"Actually, it's me, Drew. Jim lent me his phone."

"Sharon's missing! We need to--"

"I wish I could help. She might have called me, but, of course, she wouldn't want me to contact the people she thinks are hurting her."

"You've seen her? Is she all right?"

"I didn't say I'd seen her. I said it would make sense for her to call me. But she wouldn't want me to call you or anyone else if she had called me."

"How did she seem when you didn't see her?"

"Last time I didn't see her she appeared to be suffering from some sort of memory loss--"

"Transient global amnesia most likely."

"What should I do, if I see her that is?"

"You should bring her back to the hospital."

"Given the state she was in, er, might be in - if she called, I don't think that's a good idea. She thinks the hospital is trying to play with her brain, er, she might imagine that--"

"Get her to lay down and rest, um, if you see her."

"Check… Anything else?"

Anne sighed, "Well, the good news is that retrograde amnesia after a trauma like she suffered is usually very brief. The majority of people who experience it have their memories return in a day or two. There is a good chance she'll wake up tomorrow remembering everything."

"If she doesn't?"

"It is almost never permanent. A few days, a couple weeks, and she should be back to normal."

"Almost never permanent?"

"I'd being lying if I simply said never, but it is rare. She has a hundred times better chance of having her memories back when she wakes up tomorrow morning."

"So, just letting her sleep would be the best thing to do - if she came here?"

"Absolutely… Can I call Kim and the girls and tell them Sharon is not with you?"

"She doesn't want anyone to--"

"They're very worried."

"Fine," he sighed, "call them and tell them Shego is not here. But they shouldn't come out here - and I mean that."

"Thanks, Drew."

"No problem."


	2. Didn't See That Coming

Boilerplate Disclaimer: Disney owns everything Kim Possible.

**Didn't See that Coming**

_She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running  
Like a watercolor in the rain  
Don't bother asking for explanations  
She'll just tell you that she came  
In the year of the cat_

The problem was that in the morning Shego did not have her memory back. Drakken had moved out from the old lair, but kept his old quarters for the occasional nights where he worked with manic energy until he dropped from exhaustion in the early morning hours. He stayed at the lab that night in case Shego needed him.

He put his ear to her door when he woke up and heard a radio playing. He knocked.

"Who is it?" she called.

"Me. Are you okay?"

"No."

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

She seemed even more frightened than she had the day before. "I'm listening to the news… What did they do to me? What happened? Am I hallucinating? Have I been in suspended animation?"

He knelt at the side of her bed and took her hand. "You were in an accident, suffered a bad concussion. Apparently you're suffering from amnesia. The doctor told me it's--"

"You talked with a doctor about me," she said in a bitter tone. "You lied to me."

"I talked with the doctor while you were in the hospital," he lied, "it was a concern she had about you."

"She… Dr. Possible?"

"Yes, she's a brain surgeon."

"You let Kim's mother work on my head? No wonder my brain is all fucked up!"

"Please, Shego, try to calm down. She's a wonderful doctor, head of the neurological department. The best in Middleton."

"Was it one your accidents that put me in the hospital?" she asked in a threatening tone.

"No, it wasn't. And I think I should take you back to the hospital."

"No way! I don't know why they didn't have any police watching my room yesterday, but I was damn lucky to escape. I'm not going back there."

"The police aren't looking for you."

"Why?"

"Because they know where you are."

"Huh? You sold me out?"

Shego was becoming more agitated, and it frightened Drakken, "No, I didn't mean here specifically. They know in general. You're on probation."

She seemed lost, "I'm on probation? They're not looking to arrest me?"

"No, they're not."

She stared at him, "What about you."

"What about me?"

"I mean, what about you?"

"I'm not suffering from amnesia."

"Are the police looking for you?"

"Of course not. I'm a respected businessman."

"Are you on probation?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I meant yes, yes I am on probation."

"What the hell is going on? Did you get some kind of pardon for turning me in?"

"No! I didn't turn you in."

"Then what in the hell is going on with you?"

He mumbled something she couldn't understand.

"Say that again, louder," she demanded.

He looked annoyed, but answered, "I was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial. I was in the Innsmouth Institute for months, court orders to keep taking my meds."

Shego chuckled slightly, "God, I don't remember any of this. Maybe I am hallucinating."

"It's real. Please, let me take you back to the hospital."

She hesitated, fearing a trap. "Can I just stay here?"

"You could, but I think you need to see the doctor."

"I can go in, and no one will try and arrest me?"

"No one will try to arrest you."

"You'll come with me?"

"Of course, if you want."

* * *

Drakken sat in the office chair as Dr. Possible talked with Shego. "The headache is better today?'

"Much, I thought it was going to kill me yesterday."

"The pain pill I gave you didn't help?"

"I, uh, didn't take it."

"You what!"

"I, ah, palmed it… Sorry, Dr. Possible, but--"

"And will you please call me Anne?"

"So, like, I know you?"

"For years."

"Why don't I remember any of that?"

"It would appear you are suffering from post-traumatic retrograde amnesia. I'll take you down for a special MRI known as diffusion-weighted imaging. If it shows abnormalities in the hippocampus you're probably suffering from transient global amnesia."

"Is that bad?"

"That would be good. It would mean you should make a complete recovery fairly quickly."

"And by quickly you mean…"

"I mean, if that is the problem the majority of people recover in a day."

"It's already been more than a day."

"Maybe you'll be over it tomorrow. Maybe it will take a few more days. But you should be fine soon."

"And I'm free to go back with Drakken when you've done my head pictures?"

"I think you should stay in the hospital for another day at least. It's the best place for you until we know for certain what the problem is."

"I don't want that stupid hospital gown."

"How about a compromise. You put on a gown for the MRI, and we'll find something better for you to wear while you're here?"

Shego lay still on the table while the technicians worked on the magnetic resonance imaging. It seemed odd that Dr. Possible stayed with her throughout the procedure; she thought doctors tried to spend as little time as humanly possible with their patients. And she wondered how in the hell she knew Anne Possible.

"Let the nurse take you back to your room," Anne suggested to Shego at the end of the MRI. "I want to look the results over very carefully. I should be in to talk with you in an hour or so."

Shego lay in bed, trying to find anything on television worth watching, when Kim walked into the room, carrying a small bag.

Kim grinned, "How you feeling?"

"Like shit. You here to gloat?"

Kim looked puzzled, "Gloat? Why would I do that?"

"Making fun of me because I can't remember what's going on."

"No, I--"

"I don't remember much, Possible," Shego growled, "but I remember I hate you."

Shego expected a mocking or sarcastic comment of some kind from Kim. Instead the younger woman started crying, dropped the bag, and fled the room. Shego stared in amazement as Kim disappeared down the hall._ "What in the hell just happened?"_ Shego asked herself.


	3. Tomorrow Is the First Day

Boilerplate Disclaimer: Disney owns everything Kim Possible.

**Tomorrow Is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life**

_She doesn't give you time for questions  
As she locks up your arm in hers  
And you follow 'till your sense of which direction  
Completely disappears_

Anne Possible felt anger as she stormed into Shego's hospital room. She knew it was wrong to feel that way, but couldn't help it. Sharon was suffering from an injury and didn't know what she was saying, but she had still hurt Kim.

"Why did you say that to Kim?" she snapped, realizing her tone of voice was wrong even as the words left her mouth.

"Look, you're telling me I know you… You really don't know that your daughter and I hate each other?"

Anne took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Before saying anything she noticed the bag on the floor and picked it up. Inside was a pair of pajamas and a nightgown - which she had asked Kim to bring over to the hospital. "Kim brought you something from home to wear while you're in the hospital."

"Kim brought me something to wear?" Shego appeared bewildered.

"A couple things you like," Anne assured her, tossing her the bag.

Shego stared in the bag. She couldn't remember owning the items she saw, but they looked like the sorts of things she wore. "Why would Kim bring them? Does she have a key to my place?"

"Your home, the home you and Kim share."

"Drakken said I'm on probation or something… Kim and I live in the same house? Is she, like, my probation officer or something?"

"You and Kim live in the same house. You live in the same room. You share the same bed. You've been lovers for more than six years."

Shego panicked, "THAT'S A LIE!!"

"You're suffering from amnesia, how would you know?" Anne regretted her words when she saw the panic-stricken look on Shego's face. She assumed a comforting tone, "I'm sorry, that was a poor way to tell you--"

"I don't believe you! It's not true!" Anne tried to take Shego's hand. The green woman jerked her hand away, "It's not true!"

"Put on your clothes. Let's go down and have lunch with Kim in the hospital cafeteria. The food isn't great, but I want the two of you to talk."

"I don't want to talk to--"

"Doctor's orders," Anne said firmly. "Get dressed, I'll call Kim and tell her to meet us in the cafeteria."

Kim stood to get their attention when they entered the cafeteria. Anne looked and didn't see a tray of food, "You need to go through the line."

"I'm not hungry, Mom."

"Doctor's orders. Get something to eat."

Shego kept Anne between herself and Kim as they went through the line, and sat diagonally across from Kim at the table - unwilling to sit beside Kim or directly opposite her. Anne sighed and took the chair beside Shego and opposite Kim.

As soon as they were all seated Kim went on the offensive, against her mother, "You could have told me she was suffering from some kind of amnesia when you called!"

"We didn't know the extent of the amnesia, or the cause--"

"Wasn't the cause obvious?"

"We didn't know the _exact_ cause of the amnesia, when I called. There was a tiny chance it was caused by a more serious brain injury. I wanted to wait until after a thorough exam. And why did you go to her room?"

"Because you asked me to bring pajamas to her in the hospital."

"I asked you to bring pajamas to the hospital_ for_ her."

"You said _to_ her."

"I said _for_ her."

"I wish we had a tape of that conversation."

"So do I."

"Do you have any idea what it's like to walk in and the person you love and are worried sick about and get told she hates you?"

"You should have come to my office."

"I did. You weren't there--"

"I was reading Sharon's tests."

"You weren't there - so I decided to take her pajamas to her before I found you."

Shego had smiled through the exchange, "Do you want me to referee for the two of you?"

"No," Anne snapped. "Kim and I are both under a lot of stress. But this isn't about us. It's about you."

There was a long pause before Shego turned to Kim. "So, uh, your Mom tells me we're… She says… Oh, hell, I can't believe this."

"You need to believe it," Anne told her.

Shego turned to Anne, "And you're okay with this?"

"I wasn't at first," Anne admitted. "I've grown accustomed to you."

"I think she and Monique saw we were getting interested in each other before we knew it ourselves," Kim added.

"Monique? Who's Monique?"

"A good friend. She was the first person I told I was having coffee with you."

"You and I were going out for coffee?"

"We sort'a had a truce going on Friday nights, and I guess you could say it got out of hand."

Unwilling to believe a word Kim said Shego turned to Anne, "She? And I? That makes no sense at all."

"It will when you get your memory back."

"I'm not sure I want my memory back."

"Mom," Kim interrupted, "is there anything we can do to speed up her memory?"

"And no one better say anything about hitting me with a big mallet like in the cartoons," Shego declared

Kim giggled, "Ron suggested that."

"Your doofus sidekick? He's still around?"

"He lives with us."

Shego's eyes went wide, "Please don't tell me we're in a _ménage a trios_."

"No," Anne assured her. "He lives in the house with you. And you shouldn't call him a doofus, he was your best man when you married Kim."

Shego moved her Jello to one side and laid her head on the table, "Shoot me now. I don't believe any of this. The _ménage a trios_ makes more sense than Ron as… I'm married to Kim?"

"Well, not legally," Kim admitted.

"Thank God," Shego muttered.

"It was a simple Jewish ceremony to--"

Shego looked up at Kim, "You're Jewish?"

"No, you are."

"I'm Jewish?"

"You remember your grandmother was given to Christians to raise before her parents were sent off to a death camp?"

Virtually no one knew that outside the family. Which meant, "You really do know me."

"Well, you found out that Jewish identity is recognized through the mother. That meant technically you could be considered Jewish and you decided to embrace it. I think it helped you get your life back on track."

"There was nothing wrong with my life," Shego snarled. She turned to Anne, "You have me on too much medication."

"I haven't given you anything today," Anne reminded her.

"Then you need to give me something. I'm hallucinating all kinds of weird shit."

Anne sighed, it might be best to wait and tell Shego about her time in law school and the fact she and Kim had two daughters later. She turned back to Kim, "You were asking about how to help Sharon. I think--"

"What about Dr. Langford's Memory Recovery Machine?"

"Please, that creates more problems than it solves. We will only consider that if she hasn't recovered her memory in a month."

"A month?" Kim protested.

"Too many possible side effects with the MRM. Sharon needs see familiar surroundings and people. Her memory will probably just click back into place in the next day or two."

"So I should take her home?"

"I'm not going home with you," Shego protested.

"No," Anne told Kim. "I want to keep her another night in the hospital. I think she's physically fine, but I want her here for observation."

"Can I take her to Columbia to Kenya this afternoon?"

Anne hesitated, "I suppose. But don't keep her there long."

Shego waved a hand between them, "Hello! Hello, people! I'm sitting right here. You're talking about me."

"You want your memory back, don't you?" Anne asked.

There was a pause before Shego answered, "Hell of a question, isn't it? If I can believe you - and I haven't made my mind up on that yet - I love Kim. But my memories are hating Kim. I mean, maybe I'll be happy if I get my memories back, but right now I want to punch her."

"Please, Shego," Kim asked.

"I'm worried you're going to jump me. I've been sick, I'm not feeling a hundred per cent. I'm not going to give you a chance to beat me in a fight."

"I've got no interest in fighting you. I just want you to get your memory back. What can I do to show you I mean it?"

* * *

"I wasn't expecting handcuffs," Kim grumbled as her mother held the car door open for her.

"You did ask what you could do to prove you were sincere," her mother reminded her. "Are you sure this is a good idea? Sharon doesn't remember the last few years. She could hurt you by force of habit." Anne looked over at Shego, "I really don't think this is a good idea."

"Finally, the voice of reason. Take me back to the hospital."

"No," Kim said firmly. "Shego and I are going to the coffee shop. Can somebody pick us up in an hour?"

"Earlier if I can't take it any more," Shego demanded.

Anne shook her head, "This is not a good idea. I'll be here, or one of your brothers."

Anne got back in the car. Kim and Shego walked to the door of the coffee shop. Shego resented having to hold the door for Kim, but the handcuffs meant the redhead needed help.

Shego experienced the peculiar feeling she suffered at Lipsky and Load, an unfamiliar room and people she'd never seen treating her like an old friends in familiar surroundings.

"Kim! Sheila! The usual?" a young man with black hair and too many piercings called.

"Sure," Kim responded.

"Got some people in your booth, want me to shoo them out?"

Kim hesitated. Normally she would have said no, but she hoped that familiar locations would help Shego regain her memory, "Thanks, Tony, I don't want to inconvenience anyone, but I'd really like to sit there this afternoon."

"No problem," he grinned. "We want Sheila to see something."

"Doesn't have to be this second, we'll see who else is back there."

"Why in the hell is he calling me Sheila?" Shego whispered as they strolled to the back of the coffee house.

"Because you didn't trust me when we started coming here and you wouldn't give me your real name. I mean, it was almost a year before you told me."

In the back Kim took Shego's arm and pulled her towards a large group sitting around several tables pushed together. There were whistles and a few laughs as the mostly women and a couple men saw the handcuffs.

"Didn't know you were into kinky," one of the women told Shego.

"She's not," Kim answered. "I lost a bet."

One of the men spoke up, "Saw it on the news. Man, I'm glad you're alive."

"Yeah, well it left her memory shaken," Kim warned. "She's having trouble with names at the moment."

That ended the laughter at the tables. "Will she be all right?"

"My mom, the brain surgeon, thinks so. We're just out visiting old haunts."

"Who were they?" Shego asked as they waited for Tony to ask the teenagers in the booth to move. Oddly enough the teens didn't object and two even came over to shake Shego's hand.

"Legal lesbians," Kim explained as they headed for the booth.

Before they could sit down Tony pointed to a small brass plaque on one side, it read "Sheila sat here." Kim laughed, "You're as famous as I am," and pointed to a small brass plaque on the other side which had obviously been there for awhile. It read, "Kim Possible sat here."

"What's a legal lesbian?" Shego wanted to know as she eyed the cup and biscotti. "And some of them are men."

"It's a study group for the law school. They don't discriminate against non-lesbians. You're a member."

Shego looked at Kim in blank surprise, "I'm in law school?"

"Not any more, you're out. You're a lawyer."

"My God, all the jokes about lawyers… They're true."

"Well, I haven't been able to reform you completely. And I wish you'd stop swearing in front of the girls."

"What girls?"

"Our daughters."

"Kim, call your mom I want to go… Daughters? Those two little kids who were with you in the hospital when I woke up?"

"Yes. Their names are Kasy and Sheki."

"They called me something weird… I don't remember what it was…"

"Eemah."

"Yeah, that was it. What in the hell does that mean?"

"It's Hebrew for Mom. They can't very call us both Mommy can they?"

"The Jewish thing again… Did I carry them? They both looked a bit green. What do you mean, our daughters? Who's the dad?"

"Uh, there isn't a dad."

"Call your mom. I'm hallucinating again."

"Can we back up? Maybe talk about how we got started here?"

"I… I guess so."

"This was where we met."

"This was not where we met. I remember that much."

"I mean this is where we met under a flag of truce. You wanted someone to talk with and called me."

"I called you?"

"I'm a wonderful listener. Anyway, we started to come here on Friday nights to have coffee and talk. We kind of covered life, the universe and everything."

"And we fell madly in love, emphasis on the madly?"

"I guess so. You didn't mention being bi, and I was in denial or something about liking girls at first. I guess it all clicked in place for me eventually, the reason I'd been so bad at my relationships with guys was because I didn't really want the right guy - I wanted the wrong woman."

"And that was me."

"And that was you."

Shego sighed, it seemed impossible. "So, we fell in love and lived happily ever after?"

"Uh, not exactly. We fought a lot. We've been in for counseling a couple times. We've been doing much better the last couple years."

"That I can believe. The fighting part, any way, not us doing better."

Shego nibbled at her biscotti for a minute, "I'm going to pretend for a minute I believe you--"

"Great," Kim said, stretching her cuffed hands across the table to take the older woman's hand. Shego jerked it back. "I said I'd pretend I believe you. It doesn't change how I feel. Tell me about those two kids with no father… Artificial insemination from anonymous donor? What do you mean, no father?"

Kim sighed, "Okay, Drakken was kidnapped by the Worldwide Evil Empire. They forced him to make mind-control chips to--"

"Excuse me," Shego interrupted, "daughters, remember?"

"I'm getting there. WEE tried to take over Global Justice. My brothers had figured out how to disrupt Drakken's mind chips and you got them to make some disruptors. Oh, they work for Drakken now… I'm not sure what Mom and Dad think about that--"

"Focus, Kim."

Kim hesitated, the memory still painful, "You went to Global Justice with me--"

"I was trying to help Global Justice?"

"Probably not. You wanted to rescue Drakken - or protect me." Kim paused before she could continue. "You took a bullet meant for me… You almost died." She had to pause again.

Shego wasn't sure what to think. She remembered nothing Kim talked about, but it was clearly very emotional for the younger woman.

"I was afraid I was going to lose you," Kim continued when she was able. "I'd never loved anyone like I'd loved you. I suggested you donate an egg, we'd find a sperm donor and I'd carry the baby. I wanted part of you with me always. You said no… Do you remember DNAmy?"

"Who?"

"I guess the answer is no. Over in Japan, in two thousand three, Dr Tomohiro Kono and his team produced a mouse with two mothers, no father. Amy Hall was on the team. She's a great geneticist with a serious lack of ethics. I talked her into--"

Shego experienced another shock, "The girls are really yours and mine? No father?"

Kim nodded her head yes. "Oh, that isn't terribly well known - be careful who you mention that in front of until you get your memory back." Shego thrilled briefly at the idea of having something to blackmail Kim with, then realized that if it were true she would not want it to be known. "Twins, seems to run in both our families."

"How are… I mean… Hell, I've got no idea what to say. What are they like?"

"Surprisingly normal, all things considered. Kasy is an utterly charming little terror, just like you. And Sheki is mature beyond her years, just like I was."

Shego still seemed to be in shock, "I have kids?"

"It's weird, but for some reason your Mom claims you were a polite child and says Sheki takes after you. And my Mom says Kasy is just like me. I've got no idea why she says that."

"I was in the hospital when this was going on?"

"Yeah. Then they sent you to Canada. You spent some time in prison - you never told me what you did for Canada to let you out early. You came back to the United States… Do you know who Betty Director is?"

"Wasn't she just appointed head of Global Justice?"

"Well, just appointed a few years ago now. She helped you arrange bail so you could be with me. We were together when the girls were born."

"Wish I knew what I did to get out of prison in Canada. Wait, I heard Ron lives with us?"

"My parents bought a huge old house. It was kind of investment property and kind of a 'We don't want to raise our grandchildren' sort of thing. You and your brothers--"

"My brothers?"

"I, uh, sort of twisted your arm and made you go back to your family."

"Even that jerk, Hego?"

"Hey, he's saved your life… Would it make you feel better that you two still fight constantly?"

"Thank God for small favors."

"Anyway, you and your brothers did a lot of work getting it ready. Give me a minute to think of all the people we had staying with us… Ron, Monique, Bonnie--"

"Bonnie?"

"A friend from high school… Okay, an enemy from high school. We became friends. She and Ron are engaged. He was interested in Yori, but--"

Shego held up a hand for silence, "I don't need the soap opera."

"Oh, right. You'll remember them all eventually."

"All? How big is this house?"

"Huge. Oh, and we've got a ghost."

Shego raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "A ghost?"

"That's what you tell me. Sometimes I think it's a conspiracy. I've never seen her. Sheki and Hana claim they can talk to her--"

"Hana?"

"Ron's adopted sister. Anyway, her name is Helen--"

"I thought you said her name was Hana."

"Hana is Hana. The ghost is Helen--"

"She has a name?"

"Do you want me to finish the story or not."

"I'm not sure."

"We did some remodeling a couple years ago and found Helen's skeleton. Then--"

"Great, I'm living in a haunted house. Is that the end of this Twilight Zone episode?"

"Well, ah, the girl's have a pet dragon."

"You're just making this up, trying to confuse me worse - aren't you?"

"No, seriously. DNAmy, the geneticist, made it for them."

"What do we feed it, goats or villagers?"

"It's a small dragon… I wish it would stop growing, but it does catch a mouse every now and then."

"Kim, has your Mom been giving you any kinds of weird drugs? 'Cause I'm not sure if I'm delusional or you are."

"That's not nice… Oh, and the basement door has an unusual problem. Sometimes you open it there's a different time and place at the bottom of the steps."

"And I'm supposed to believe this?"

"It happened after a poker night. We used to have them all the time. Drakken and Wade--"

"Wade?"

"Wade Load, he was the brains when Ron and I were out saving the world."

"When I called Drakken the other day some woman answered and said, 'Lipsky and Load'. That Wade Load?"

"Yeah. Anyway, they were working on some miniature time machine and Kasy stole it and things went crazy around the house. Ever since then, sometimes when we open the basement door it doesn't go to the basement."

"Can't we get it fixed?"

"Who do you call to repair it? Wade and Drakken have looked at it, they claim their machine couldn't possibly have done anything like that."

Shego stared off vacantly into space. "Being insane isn't really so bad. You imagine the craziest things… And think you are eating pistachio biscotti and drinking coffee."

"Oh, and one last thing--"

"Promise?"

"Promise?"

"The one last thing part."

"Ah, for now… The night with the time egg, when things got crazy at the house? Some red-haired teenager showed up to help. She called you Eemah."

"Well if it was a time screw-up it was probably… Which twin has the red hair?"

"She said she wasn't."

They heard a cough and looked up. Kim saw her brother Tim, Shego saw one of the strangers who'd been at Lipsky and Load the day before.

"Mom said I was supposed to pick you two up. You were supposed to be outside waiting for me."

"Sorry," Kim apologized, "Shego and I always lose all track of time while we're here."

Tim noticed the handcuffs, "Whoa, I didn't know you two got into the kinky stuff."

At the car Tim held the door open for Kim. After he took his place behind the wheel Kim leaned forward and tapped him on the back of the head, "To the hospital, James."

"His name is James?" Shego whispered.

"Sorry, that's my brother Tim. So, did any of that seem familiar?"

Shego closed her eyes and thought for a minute. For some odd reason she decided to be honest. Perhaps it was because she really didn't like Kim and didn't care what she thought. "I don't like you. I don't trust you. I feel like you were shoveling a weird load of crap on me. And, at least right this minute, even if that stuff was true - and I don't believe it - I'm not sure I want my memory back."

To Shego's relief Kim fell silent for the trip back to the hospital.


	4. Home to Meet the Family

Boilerplate Disclaimer: Disney owns everything Kim Possible.

**Home to Meet the Family**

_By the blue tiled walls near the market stalls  
There's a hidden door she leads you to  
These days, she says, I feel my life  
Just like a river running through  
The year of the cat_

"You didn't need to come in here with me," Shego snarled at Kim as they walked down a hospital corridor. "I've seen enough of you today."

"And I forgot how irritating you were before we fell in love," Kim shot back. "I want to talk to my Mom about getting you a head transplant."

They reached Shego's room. Dr. Possible was already there, talking with a woman who reminded Shego of a female Ed Asner. "Who the hell are you," the green woman snapped, "another head doctor?"

Anne cleared her throat, "Actually, Sharon, this is your boss - Judge Alice Armstrong."

"Bloody hell," Shego muttered and grabbed the bag with her pajamas and headed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Dr Possible looked at her daughter, "Well, that seems to have gone terribly well." She turned back to the judge, "I warned you about her memory."

"Yeah, you did," the judge grunted, extracting herself from the visitor's chair. "Doesn't seem to be any point in staying just now."

"You're not going to fire her, are you?" Kim asked anxiously.

"Hell no… At least not now. She brought in some great publicity for the firm, and the Lipsky and Load account. Your Mom says she'll be fine before too long. I'll give her five days after she gets her memory back before she needs her butt back in the office. If she's not okay in a month… Well, we'll cross that bridge if we come to it. Probably some kind of extended leave."

Alice left. Shego emerged from the bathroom a couple minutes later in pajamas and crawled into the bed. "Was that troll really my boss?"

"And the lawyer who defended you in court. She's the reason you're on probation and not in prison," Anne told her.

"And she won't hold what you said against you," Kim added. "She knows your memory is messed up."

Shego grinned, "Cool, I can say anything I want to anybody and they have to forgive me because I'm sick?"

"I would advise against that," Anne remarked coolly. "When you recover your memories you're going to remember everything you said and did in this period. And you will feel so guilty about being rude to people who care for you that grovel in front of them and beg forgiveness."

"You take all the fun out of being sick," Shego pouted. "And I don't grovel."

"Mom, have you looked at the tests?" It was the first time Kim and Shego agreed on anything that day; they wanted to know the answer.

"It basically looks good. She should be fine any day now."

"I want my Shego back now."

"It doesn't work that way. What happened at the coffee shop?"

Kim responded first, "She was impossible!"

"She dumped a ton of lies on me! No way could that stuff happen!"

"I'm going home," Kim told her mom.

"Good riddance," Shego called.

"Kim, sit down in that chair," her mother ordered. "Sharon, you need to--"

"I don't want her here!"

"Mom, she's impossible!"

"Kim, sit now. Sharon, familiar faces are the best thing for you - besides, you need to go through the stack of get-well cards you've received and you won't remember who most of the people are. Kim will help you. I'm going to stand here for a little while and make sure the two of you play nicely with each other."

Anne handed the cards to Shego. As Shego decided where to begin Kim calmed down.

"Ah, Shego?"

"What?" the green woman answered harshly.

"Sorry I got so angry… It's just that you mean so much to me and this was like the bad old days when we were really fighting."

Shego sighed and looked up, "I've got no idea what's going on. I can't believe a thing you said to me. When I get my memory back, if you were telling me the truth, I'll owe you apology. If you're lying to me I'll beat the snot out of you, got that."

Kim nodded, "Perfectly clear. I'm not afraid."

"You never are," Shego grumbled, "that's your problem." She pulled a card out of an envelope, "Justine and Felix?"

"She lived at the house with us a couple years. She married Felix… The judge who was here?"

"Yeah?"

"She performed the ceremony."

"Okay, Ron I know," Shego said, opening a second card. A piece of paper fluttered out. Shego picked it up, "Coupon for one free back rub? Is doofus hoping to get lucky with me?"

"If you don't want that, I'll take it," Kim offered, "Ron gives great backrubs."

Shego kept opening cards, "Ruth?"

"Your rabbi."

"I'm really Jewish?"

"Yep."

"Monique and Will? You said Monique had lived with us?"

"Yeah, she and Ron were my best friends in high school."

"Will?"

"He works for Global Justice. He's got the personality of soggy cardboard - I don't know how he and Monique could end up together… And I'm the one who introduced them."

Shego threw a card on the floor, "Hego." The next one bore a Chicago postmark also, "Ed and Connie. My brother Ed?"

"Yeah, Constance is the daughter of the Alchemist. She's on Team Go now."

"A Wego married the Alchemist's daughter? He's too young. He's only..." Shego shook her head and opened another card, "Bonnie… You said she lived with us too?"

"She's in California now, got a job on an afternoon soap opera. She keeps her room at the house. She's back here a lot - which makes Ron happy."

"Drakken… Wade… Your buddy Wade?"

"Probably."

"Joss and Bego? Never heard of them. Boston postmark."

"Joss is my cousin."

"Bego her husband? Bego? Almost sounds like he's part of my family."

"Bego is a she. Bebe body modified to basically look like you, got a copy of Joss's brain imprinted in her. She and Joss are like sisters now - with only one set of childhood memories."

"Why Bego?"

"Well it was too confusing to call them both Joss."

Shego ignored the explanation and opened a card signed, 'Z said I had to sign this damn thing myself. David Donner.' "Who is David Donner?"

"Donner sent a get-well card? I thought you two didn't like each other."

"I don't think we do. Who in the hell is he?"

"Your probation officer. He's with the Feds."

"A Federal probation officer?"

"They didn't prosecute for your Federal crimes… I, ah, shouldn't say this, but I think they blackmail you into doing jobs for them sometimes."

_"Z was Zach Goldman. Nice to know the son of a bitch cares about my health."_ She questioned her conclusion when, by odd coincidence, the next card had a name beginning with Z, "Zita?"

"High school friend. Moved in with us for a while after bad marriage fell apart. I don't know if its official that she runs the day-to-day for Drakken or if it's just what happens. He needs a strong woman to keep him in line."

That actually brought a chuckle from Shego. There were cards from Legals, and some Kim could not identify who might have been friends from classes, members of Shego's synagogue, or people who worked at the law firm. "The Crandalls?"

"He's the assistant DA, tried to put you in prison."

"And the bastard sends me a card?"

"He was doing his job. I wouldn't call the two of you friends, but you're polite to each other. His daughter, Briana, is friends with the twins."

As Shego worked further down the stack of cards another visitor walked into the room.

Shego looked up and stared in amazement, "Mom?"

Kim knew one thing about Susan O'Ceallaigh; she was a hugger. The redhead smiled, it would be a couple minutes before Shego would be free of the embrace.

The green woman didn't know how to respond. She had been told she had reconciled with her family, but could not remember it. The one thing she could be certain of was that her mother would not join a Possible led conspiracy to drive her insane.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I can't remember stuff. They tell me I have amnesia. I don't know if that's true or if they've done something to me… They tell me Kim and I are… that we… Hell, you know what I mean."

"I think so. And you need to stop using language like that. You set a bad example when you use it in front of the girls."

"I think they said Kim and I had a wedding ceremony or something?"

"Oh yes, it was beautiful."

"And you're okay with that?"

"I was okay with it by the time of the wedding. I think we were all shocked when we found out." She turned to Kim, "You could have done a better job of warning us."

"Sorry," Kim apologized.

Susan turned back to Shego, "Henry still hasn't accepted the fact. Your father had some--"

"You and dad are still together?"

"We're doing very well these days. He was disappointed. Still, it was hard not to love Kim for bringing you back to us. If he still has problems with the two of you as a couple he doesn't mention it any more."

"I'm going to get a cup of coffee," Kim announced, rising and turning the chair over to Shego's mom. As she left the room Susan was telling her daughter of the recent family history Shego could not remember.

Later Anne returned with Kim to the hospital room to find Susan still going strong with family stories. "I'm going to throw you and Kim both out," Dr. Possible announced to Susan. "Sharon needs her rest." She looked at the patient. "Sharon, you can leave the hospital tomorrow. Do you want to go home?"

Shego hesitated, "No, it just sounds too weird."

"Perhaps that's just as well. Sorry I suggested it. I'm not sure how much peace the twins would give you; and you need to continue to rest. Why don't you come home with me tomorrow afternoon and stay in our guest room? That way you're close to the doctor." Before Shego could answer she turned to Susan and Kim, "Dinner tomorrow night at six. Bring the twins."

"Sounds wonderful," Susan answered. "The girls and I have been baking cookies, we'll bring some."

After her mother and Kim left, Shego continued to look at cards - wondering who had sent them or if it was part of a complex plan to drive her insane. Conspiracy made little sense; there was too much work for too little reward. Shego took pleasure in the thought she might actually have a large circle of friends as she fell asleep.

Shego's memory had not returned the next morning. She felt vaguely nervous as she watched television in the Possible's family room that afternoon and waited for supper. She had started to accept the possibility that she was supposed to like Kim, but the fact remained that she didn't. Could she and Kim have really fallen in love, or had she been engaged in some sort of subterfuge - fooling Kim into thinking she cared about her. The later idea made sense. Kim had many friends, including some in places of authority. Trick Kim into thinking that she cared about her and Kim might have responded. She toyed briefly with the idea of faking affection for Kim, then shuddered at the idea. What crime could she have committed so terrible that she would sentence herself to pretending to like Kim to avoid the consequences?

Her thoughts were interrupted when Anne called, "Sharon? Would you set the table?"

Glad for the chance of mindless activity instead of worry Shego went to the kitchen. "How many will there be for dinner?"

Anne tallied the figures. "Just seven."

"Did you invite Drakken? I, uh, could use a familiar face."

"We invited Drew, but he begged off. Maybe there's something happening at Lipsky and Load."

"How is Doc doing?"

"In what way: professionally, socially, medically?"

"Um, a fast version of all the above. He said he'd been ruled incompetent, had therapy, and was on meds."

"True enough. He's been off his medications at least once - went back to trying to take over the world. But he's doing well as long as he stays on them. He's been on some interesting adventures with my sons, Jim and Tim… Do you remember them? I think you met Tim yesterday."

"I think I met Jim at the… Can't really call it the lair anymore."

"No, I guess not. I'm sure you don't remember Joss and Bego. Joss is a--"

"Kim told me about them."

"Oh, and can't forget Wade Load."

"How in the hell did Wade and Doc join up?"

"I think that was partly your doing. You left Wade in charge of the lair when you were arrested."

"Why would I do that?"

"You worked with him while you were trying to locate Drew. He'd been taken captive by--"

"Kim told me about that."

"Anyway, Wade liked the lab space of the lair and thought that he and Drakken working together might make effective business partners."

"Do they?"

"The firm seems to be off to a very good start. I'm not certain if either has real business sense, but they've gotten some nice high tech contracts. Jim and Tim work there now."

"Is he happy?"

"He seems to be happy. He was friends with my husband and two other men in college, Bob Chen and Lakshman Ramesh, before he dropped from the graduate program. The four of them sometimes get together now for things. He and Kim don't get along very well, but they usually manage to be civil to each other."

"Think he backed out tonight to avoid seeing Kim?"

"I doubt it. They tolerate each other, and he adores your girls." Anne hesitated for a moment. "Perhaps I shouldn't ask this, but is there any chance he might not want to see your mother?"

_"Don't think he'd want to see either Mom or Dad,"_ Shego thought. "I doubt that was the problem."

James called and apologized for the fact he would be a few minutes late for dinner. Kim and company arrived slightly early. The twins tackled Shego while Susan took the cookies into the kitchen. Kim hesitated about what to do, but having been warned Shego didn't have her memory back decided to go to the kitchen and ask her mother if she could help rather than risking another conversation going badly.

Shego could not remember what the girl who had gotten into her hospital bed had been called, but remembered Kim comparing one of them to her as being trouble. She let them wrestle her down to the floor where she put an arm around each of them and looked closely. They looked like they could be her children - she'd try to remember to check for stretch marks.

"Kasy?" she said cautiously to Sheki.

"I'm Sheki. You really don't remember me?"

"I'm sorry… There's like a big hole in my memory."

"Do you remember how to read?" Kasy asked.

"I remember how to read."

"Oh, 'cause Sheki and me could teach you. We read real good."

"I think that's supposed to be 'Sheki and I could teach you'."

"You don't have to teach me, I already know real good."

"She brought The Cat in the Hat to read to you," Sheki whispered.

"Do you want to hear it?" Kasy asked eagerly.

"A couple questions first, please. Am I really your mom?"

"No. You're our Eemah."

"Oh yeah, that Jewish thing again. Am I a good mom?"

"Eemah! Kim is Mommy. You're Eemah."

"And do I do a good job with that?"

"What's an Eemah supposed to do?" Sheki asked.

"I don't know. Do I tell you to make your bed, eat your broccoli, drink your milk and not put bubble gum in your sister's hair?"

"I think you're wonderful," Kasy said, and gave her a big hug.

Shego smiled as Kasy hugged her, "You are really Grandma Susan's grandkids," she whispered.

"Of course we are," Sheki assured her, joining the group hug.

There was a little tension at the meal. Kim, Kasy, and Sheki all wanted to sit beside Shego - who would have preferred her mother as the only person she could really remember. At least allowing the children to sit on either side kept Kim at bay.

The green woman still wanted someone to admit this was all a bizarre hoax. She questioned James Possible, "What do you think about Kim and me being together."

Anne answered for him, "He's always been suspiciously supportive."

"What do you mean, Dear?" James asked.

"I used to just think you took it better than I would have expected, but then," Anne looked over at Susan and Shego, "Did you get the warning about the basement door over there?" Both women nodded. "Then the twins thanked him for rescuing them when they got lost down there. I think he knows something."

"The coleslaw is really good tonight," her husband commented, changing the subject.

"Do you know if Sharon will be all right?" Susan demanded.

"I think she'll be fine," he assured her, "but that's because my wife, the brain surgeon, tells me she will be."

Shego could not avoid Kim as a bridge partner after dinner.

Children's bedtime ended the evening early. Her mother and the twins gave Shego hugs. Kim took a step towards Shego, and the green woman stepped back to avoid her. Kim cancelled the hug she planned to give.

"I'm going back to Chicago tomorrow," Susan told her daughter.

"Sorry I didn't get to hear more about the family."

"You'll know it when you get your memory back. I want you to move back home tomorrow."

"Go to Chicago with you?"

"No, you need to move back into your home, the one you share with Kim."

"I won't go."

"Yes you will. The girls need you."

"No. I won't sleep with her," Shego pointed at Kim.

"I never said you should. There are a lot of rooms over there." She turned to Anne, "You said familiar surroundings were the best thing for her?"

"Yes, I did."

"See? Kim will drive me out to the airport at eleven. You need to be there before I leave to say goodbye to me and watch the girls."

Susan hugged her again, "You will be happy when you get your memory back."

Shego doubted like that. She could not possibly be happy with Kim. The thought that this was some sort of hoax she was playing on Kim came back to her.

What did not come back to Shego was her memory overnight. The next morning James went into work late, and drove Shego over early.

"I live here?" she asked in astonishment.

"Yes, it's quite the place, isn't it?"

"With a hot-and-cold running ghost?"

"I've never seen Helen."

He parked and walked her towards the door. He gestured to the large carriage house, "There's an apartment there that the twins moved in to."

Shego appeared lost, "Kasy and Sheki?"

"Sorry, not the grandtwins, I meant Jim and Tim. They started college early and we didn't want them in a dorm with much older students. This way they had some independence in their own place - but had Kim close to keep an eye on them."

She stopped at the foot of the steps and stared at the house, "Kim said you bought this place; we pay you rent?"

He smiled, "I really consider it your house. You and your brothers did a lot of work. You paid for most of the repairs. You've paid me back most of the money I spent… By the way," he winked, "that is our little secret."

"I don't understand."

"You said that you might lose it in a civil suit if it was in your name. You said keeping it in my name was safer for you."

"I'm pretty smart, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are. And you're going to be fine."

"You say that like you know something. Do you know something the rest of us don't?"

He glanced at his watch, "Better get you inside. I want to say goodbye to your mom before she leaves, and I've got to get to work."

"You didn't--" she started to object, but he gone up the steps and opened the door to the house.

"She's back," he called.

Twenty minutes later Shego was alone in the house with two little strangers who loved her as Kim headed to the airport with Susan.

"So, uh, what do we do for fun?"

"You can read to us."

"We can read to you."

"Television!"

"Go Fish!"

"Egyptian Rat Screw!"

"Hearts!"

"Time!" Shego called, "Egyptian Rat Screw?"

"It's a card game. We play it with Jason and Jessica."

"I won't even ask who they are. Do I like the game?"

"No… You and mommy won't play it with us. But since you don't remember you can try it."

After several games of Go Fish the twins suggested they eat some of the cookies they'd made with grandma Susan.

"Sounds good," Shego responded. "Is there any tea in the house?"

"Of course there's tea. You like tea."

The answer bothered her more than it should. This was her house. She had tea in the kitchen, very likely tea she had picked out for herself. And she didn't even know where the kitchen was. She followed the twins to the kitchen and let them debate what cookies they should have while she looked for tea. She glanced in the pantry, opened cabinets, and searched drawers - growing more and more frustrated. She finally sat down on the floor and started crying.

The twins came running. "Are you okay, Eemah?" "What's wrong? Did we do something?"

She grabbed them and hugged them, "My brain isn't working, and it scares me. I can't remember you. I can't remember anything. I can't even find my own damn tea!"

"Can I make tea for you?" Sheki offered.

"That would be wonderful, thank you." She sat on the floor, holding Kasy on her lap, as Sheki found a cup and the tea and heated water.

After mac-and-cheese from a box for lunch the twins insisted Shego watch a couple episodes of the Go Team Go cartoon they'd recorded. As they sat in front of the television a colorful creature crawled into Shego's lap.

"Does it do this a lot?" she wondered.

"Smaug likes you."

"Mommy says you're the warmest spot in the house. Did she tell you Smaug is poison?"

"She forgot." _ "Or did she not tell me on purpose and hopes I'd get bitten?"_

As the show ended Shego apologized, "I'm still a little tired. I think I need--"

"Ice cream!" Kasy told her.

"I think I need a nap."

"But you always get us ice cream. Every afternoon. It's time to take us for ice cream."

Shego looked at the redhead with suspicion, "I take you for ice cream every day?"

"Don't you remember?" Kasy asked with all the innocence she could muster.

"Sheki, is she telling the truth?"

The dark haired twin wasn't sure what to say.

"If I take you for ice cream, and after I get my memory back I find out you're lying, there'll be no ice cream in the house for a month - got that?"

The threat drove the truth out of Kasy. "Well, I think you _should_ take us for ice cream every day."

"But I don't, do I?"

"No," the redhead admitted.

"Tell you two what," Shego turned to Sheki and raised a hand in the air, "You didn't tattle on your sister - but more important, you didn't lie to me." She gave the girl a high-five, then turned to Kasy, "Nice try kiddo - way to think on your feet." She gave the redhead a high-five also. "Let me take a little nap and we can go out for ice cream together."

The children even crawled onto the bed in the guest bedroom and lay down on either side of her. Kim's dad said the house was really hers, Shego thought as she drifted off. She wondered if she could throw Kim out. She was willing to keep the kids; they seemed nice. On the other hand, the house was still in the name of James Possible, and he might cause problems if she tried to remove Kim. Maybe Kim could take the guest bedroom and stay on.

Shego wondered what had happened to Kim when the redhead still wasn't home at the end of the nap, but didn't worry enough to try calling. Instead she set out with the twins for what they told her was the closest ice cream shop. They had gone about three blocks when a police car pulled to the curb ahead of them and a patrolman climbed out and headed their way. Shego panicked and considered fleeing, but had a small child holding each hand.

"Got a memo on you," the policeman growled, "says you're suffering amnesia and we're supposed to go easy on you if we find you committing a crime. I don't believe it for a minute. You're setting us up - I'll keep my eye on you."

"I… I really don't know what's happening."

He frowned, she really looked bewildered, "No doughnut jokes for me? No comments about my fat ass?"

"What are you talking about?"

He sighed, then smiled, "Sorry… Hey, since you won't remember this anyway. You did a heck of a job the other day." He stuck out a hand and she shook it. "It'll be a shame to have you back to normal."

"Actually, they tell me I'll probably remember everything that's happening now when I get my memory back."

_"Damn,"_ Officer Hobble headed back to the patrol car.

"Who're you?" Shego called.

"Tom Stevens, Officer Stevens," he shouted over his shoulder.

The girls talked her into a trip to the park after ice cream. Shego agreed, since it meant putting off seeing Kim.

The redhead was back at the house when they arrived. "What's for dinner," the green woman asked.

Kasy pulled on her arm. Her Eemah leaned over and Kasy whispered loudly, "Mommy doesn't cook. You and Daddy cook."

"Daddy cooks?" Shego looked at Kim with anger, "Who's Daddy? You told me they--"

"That's what Kasy calls Ron. Some girl at pre-school said everyone has a Daddy, and she adopted him. And I promised the girls we would go to JP Bearymore for pizza when you got home."

"Can we have another option? Any other option?"

"The girls love it. I promised."

"Can I stay home?'

"No, Eemah!" Sheki objected. "You have to come with us! It's no fun without you."

"You know, if you two weren't so cute you'd be annoying."

"You're coming with us, right?" Kasy demanded.

Shego sighed, "I'm going with you."

"A medium pepperoni and a medium sausage?" Shego suggested as they entered the pizza emporium.

"No, you don't eat pepperoni or sausage pizza."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't."

"I know what I eat."

"You're Jewish."

"I don't remember being Jewish."

"Give me your cell phone, I'm calling your rabbi."

Shego reluctantly handed it over, "I'm not going to skip pepperoni pizza just because a rabbi tells me not to."

Kim asked the waiter to come back in five minutes, and quickly explained the situation to the rabbi.

"Tricky question," Ruth told Kim. "Hand the phone to Sharon."

Shego accepted the phone, "Yes."

"Eat the pizza you want."

"Eat the pizza?"

"That's what I said. I'm your rabbi, and that's my opinion. You keep the laws of kashrut when you have your memory because you want to. Keeping kosher is not about trying to earn Brownie points with God, or fearing punishment if you eat a strip of bacon. You do it because the mitzvoth, the commandments, are meaningful to you. If you've lost your memory it isn't meaningful to you at the moment."

Shego grinned at Kim, "She said I should order pepperoni."

"What! Give me that phone!"

"Rabbi? She said that you said that she--"

"I did."

"But what about when she gets her memories back?"

"Judaism is not supposed to be about commandments. It's about relationship with God and the community. Those who turn it into competition to see who can keep the most commandments make the Torah into a burden. Sharon's faith is not a burden to her, and I don't want her to regard it that way."

"But what if she feels guilty afterwards?" Kim asked.

"I'll have her do five 'Hail Marys'," the rabbi told her dryly.

Shego enjoyed the pizza more than Kim, eating with a smug satisfaction Kim found distinctly annoying.

When the slices of pizza were almost gone at their booth Kim bought game tokens for the girls. She and Shego sometimes played games with the girls, or against each other, and sometimes sat and talked as the girls played. She wasn't certain what to do this evening with Shego's memory suffering large holes.

"Whack-a-Mole is open!" Sheki called, and dragged Kim to the machine. The presence of an adult at the game allowed her to claim it for her own. "Get Eemah," she ordered Kasy. A minute later Kasy returned, dragging Shego behind her.

There were places for four players. "You're on the other side from Mommy," Sheki explained to Shego as the twins took positions opposite each other.

"My turn to put in the tokens!" Kasy reminded everyone, and dropped them into the slots.

A few second later plastic moles began popping up, to be conked by sponge-padded mallets.

"Ha! Forty out of forty!" Shego cried in triumph as the game ended and a string of tickets spewed from the ticket box beside her.

"I get Eemah's tickets tonight," Kasy called, grabbing them.

"Good job," Kim began, then looked over. "You cheated!"

"What do you mean?"

"You played right-handed!"

"Kim, I'm right-handed."

"But you and I always play left-handed."

"And how was I supposed to know that?"

"Oh, sorry… We both usually get forty if we play right-handed. That's why we play leftie."

Shego shrugged, "I guess that makes sense. Maybe I'll have my memory back the next time we come out--"

"Again!" Sheki called, "we gotta play again."

"Left-handed," Kim warned.

"I can beat you with one hand tied behind my back."

At the end of the next round Shego complained, "Hey, I can't remember how to do this left-handed."

Shego won the third round, but wasn't certain if Kim was trying as hard as she could - which the green woman found condescending and annoying.

They were both clearly trying the fourth round, which ended in a draw.

"Good place to end," Kim suggested.

"Yeah," Shego agreed.

The two returned to their booth and sat in uncomfortable silence as the twins used the last of the tokens, then turned in their tickets for plastic spider rings, miniature plastic slinkies that would be tangled knots before they got home, and pencils in day-glow colors.

"You two, up to bed," Kim told the twins when they arrived home.

"Think I'll turn in too," Shego began.

"Sit in the living room with me, please? Just for a minute. I want to hear about your day," Kim requested.

The twins hugged both their mothers, then ran off to bed.

Kim sat on the couch in the living room, and patted a spot beside her. Shego, however, went over to a chair and sat down in it.

"Still not sure about me?" Kim asked.

"No."

"None of this seemed familiar at all?"

"No… It was really frustrating. I'm starting to believe this is my place - but it doesn't feel like my place."

"Must be hard… You spent the day with the twins. What did you think of them?"

Shego leaned back and stared at the ceiling for a minute. "I think I like them. I can see me in them. I'll probably want to keep them."

"Like we've got a choice," Kim snorted. "The warranty's off them. See any of me in them?"

"A little. I won't hold that against them."

"Is any of the hate gone?"

"I guess so. I don't want to hit you with a chair any more… You got off lucky at the coffee shop the other day. But you're not on my list of favorite people. This still seems weird to me."

"Serious question, did you have any fun tonight?"

The green woman paused and thought, then smiled, "It was fun tonight. You know, maybe I'll let you stay here after all. You can have the guest room."

Kim wondered what Shego meant as she got ready for bed, but decided to consider it progress from wanting to hit her.


	5. Well, She Looks at You So Coolly

Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

**Well, she looks at you so coolly**

_Well, she looks at you so coolly  
And her eyes shine like the moon in the sea  
She comes in incense and patchouli  
So you take her, to find what's waiting inside  
The year of the cat_

Ron's knock on the door woke Shego up, "What does the hero want for breakfast?"

"Another couple hours of sleep. Go away."

"Hey, I'm offering your choice for breakfast - you don't get that option very often. I'll be heading over to the college if you don't take up my offer." He heard her moving and called, "Are you back to what passes for normal yet? What do you remember about Kim?"

"I remember she had a really annoying sidekick. Hey, Kim is out of college," Shego called as she decided if she was dressed enough to open the door and head to the kitchen, "you a little slow?"

"Nah," he grinned at her when she opened the door. "Your parents expect you to get a job when you're out of college. I'm working on my third bachelor's now."

"Nice work if you can get it," Shego mumbled as she headed downstairs.

The twins and Kim were already eating breakfast when Shego arrived in the kitchen. Kim looked up and smiled.

"Not yet," Ron warned.

"Did you tell her we're doing something special tonight?"

"What do you mean, 'special'?" Shego demanded.

"Very special," Kim assured her.

"Are we going back to JP Bearymore?" Kasy interrupted.

"No, this is special just for big people. Uncle Jim will be babysitting you." She turned back to Shego, "I'm taking time off Global Justice to be with you. What would you like to do today?"

"Spend some time away from you." Kim looked hurt. "Look, we were together last night for pizza. You tell me we're doing God-knows-what tonight. I need a little space to try and think, some time when I don't have to be polite to someone I just tolerate."

The redhead was hurt, but accepted Shego's point of view. "Should I take the girls somewhere?"

"You can. I want to get out of the house and walk around. I feel stronger. It will be a kick to walk around without looking over my shoulder for the cops. You said I went to law school? Where?"

"Here in town - Middleton Law."

"I don't even have a BA."

"You were almost done. You finished that first. We even had some classes together."

"Would you like to see the law school?" Ron offered. "I'm heading over to class in forty minutes. You can walk over with me."

"Yeah… Yeah, I think I'd like that. Thanks. Hey, what's the big deal tonight?"

"Bonnie's flying in," Ron told her.

Shego assumed a 'so what?' expression, "And the four of us are going to the Upperton Light Opera tonight, they're performing Iolanthe," Kim finished.

The green woman's eyes lit up, "They're doing Iolanthe? That's my favorite of--"

"Of all the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas," Kim finished. "Don't you think I know that? Ron and I will make you and Bonnie swear to not sing along during the performance."

"Ha! You'll never get me to make a stupid promise like that."

"Do you have tickets?"

"No."

"I do. You want to see Iolanthe, you have to promise not to sing along."

As they walked to campus Ron questioned Shego, "Why do you seem to get along better with me than Kim?"

"I'm not really sure. I guess I hated her more - you were just around for comedy relief. I--"

"Hey, I was more than comedy relief."

"That's how I saw you. Kim was the threat. You were a joke."

"See if I ever offer to make breakfast for you again."

"I'm being honest here. Give me credit for that?"

"I guess so."

"And you… I don't know… you just seem normal to me. Kim… It's like she's trying too hard to be nice to me."

"Have you considered that's because she loves you and you're important to her?"

"It just seems fake. Maybe I'm being too suspicious--"

"You are."

"Hey, it's the way I feel... Uh, what did you think of... Kim and I really got together?"

He nodded, "I hated your guts at first." She looked shocked. "Hey, give me credit for some honestly too. It was just too weird. I thought you were doing mind control on her, setting her up to ruin her or something."

Shego had wondered the same thing. But it seemed to have lasted a long time. Maybe her plan had been discovered and they drugged her in revenge. "You stopped hating me?"

He laughed, "Yeah, took awhile. The two of you're really good for each other." They had reached the campus. "Law school is that building," Ron said, pointing. "Student Union is over there… Want to eat lunch with me?"

"Pass."

"Okay, well the grill isn't too bad there. Main library is there, not a bad place to kill some time. Anything else I can tell you?"

"No, that's good. Thanks."

Everyone knew her in the law school. She had to leave, it was too creepy to have a parade of strangers coming up to her and greeting her warmly, and too frustrating that she couldn't name them. She left for the library. She fought the urge to run whenever she saw campus security or the one policeman she passed. Every face was that of a stranger, yet that stranger might be a friend, might be an enemy, might be someone she had never seen before. She wished she had stayed at the house. Playing cards with the girls would have been less stressful.

She spent most of the day in the library, reading newspapers and magazines. Feeling an odd combination of bored and stressed she headed home earlier than expected, and suffered a small panic attack when she wasn't certain if she could remember the route.

The twins talked Kim and Shego into playing more Go Fish while Ron stuffed manicotti for dinner. As they played they heard the door open. "Where's Ron?" a woman's voice called.

"In the kitchen," Kim shouted back.

Before Shego could ask who it was Kasy jumped up, "Aunt Bonnie!"

Kim pulled her back down, "Finish the card game first, give Bonnie and Ron a couple minutes of peace.

Jim joined them for dinner. A home-cooked meal was part of package used to pressure him to babysit. After dinner Ron and Kim made Bonnie swear to not sing along also and everyone went upstairs to dress for the theater. Kim hoped that Shego might feel comfortable enough to dress in their bedroom, but the green woman chose an outfit and retreated to the guest room.

Shego and Kim waited in the entryway for Ron and Bonnie. Shego felt vaguely nervous, still not believing the stories she had been told, but also excited at the prospect of seeing a show she loved.

"Ready for our date," Kim asked

"This isn't a date. You can't count it as first date. We're just going to the theater as a group."

"I don't count it as first date, I'm counting it as number four."

"Say what?"

"We went out for coffee, one. I took you home to meet my mom and dad, two. We went out for dinner, three. A night at the opera, four."

"Operetta. None of those were dates."

"Why not?"

"You don't got on a date in handcuffs--"

"Some people do."

"Do you?"

"Not usually, first time for everything."

"You didn't take me home to meet your mom and dad, I was staying at the home of my doctor. You came there."

"Were they my mom and dad?"

"That's not the point!"

"I think it is."

"And we took two children out for pizza. I don't think either one of us wanted to be there. It's not a date if you take children."

"Why not? Can you show me that in the rule book?"

"You're impossible!"

"And the theater tonight is date number four. I'm hoping to get to first base tonight. I think fourth date is long enough to wait for a kiss."

Shego began to darken with anger and turned to go upstairs.

"I'm sorry," Kim apologized. "I was kidding… Look, this is hard on me. I'm so used to us teasing each other, that it's what I do… what we do. Please, I'll stop."

The older woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. She wanted to see Iolanthe very badly. "I'm sorry too. Look, you seem like a nice person. Maybe we can be friends someday… Maybe we're more than that. But you're putting a lot of pressure on me and… at least right now I can't picture us as lovers. You said it was, what, weeks? months? before we decided we loved each other. Don't push me."

Any further conversation ended as Bonnie and Ron came downstairs. _"Damn, she's hot,"_ Shego thought, _"wonder if she's bi? She lived here… I wonder if we… I need to ask her about that."_

Bonnie and Shego spent the trip to Upperton telling Ron and Kim what to expect in Iolanthe.

"I've seen it before with you," Kim reminded Shego

"What was your favorite part?"

"I don't have a favorite part, all the Gilbert and Sullivan stuff sounds the same to me."

"Philistine," Bonnie sniffed, Shego laughed in appreciation.

Kim and Ron sat on the ends, so that the two fans could sit together in the middle. Bonnie and Shego joined in singing, 'We are dainty little fairies' as the show began.

"You promised not to sing along," Kim whispered to remind them.

"You really expected me to tell the truth?" Shego asked.

Bonnie came to their defense, "It was a promise made under duress. Promises made under duress are not binding."

Shego turned to Bonnie, "Are you a lawyer?"

"No, I lived with a law student for awhile." Shego looked blank. "You, silly," Bonnie giggled and nudged Shego with an elbow.

Shego giggled and nudged her back.

"Quiet," a man in the row behind them hissed.

Bonnie and Shego continued to sing along with the performance and nudge each other. Bonnie simply enjoyed being there with friends and watching the play. Shego, however, was convinced, _"She's flirting with me. I'll bet the two of us have something going on."_

Bonnie was flattered to be recognized by four people at intermission. She would have been more flattered if more than one had actually remembered her name. One of the three who asked if she did something on television remembered the show she was on - the other two named other shows.

After greeting her public Bonnie announced, "I'm going to stand in line for the lady's room. How come there's never a line for the men's room?"

Ron laughed, "It's 'cause we can do it all for ourselves. Women go together. That's just weird."

"Speaking of which," Shego added, "I'll go with you."

Kim and Ron continued talking after the two women left. A couple minutes later there was some sort of commotion from the direction Bonnie and Shego had gone, and Shego appeared shortly after that.

"What happened?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," she snapped.

"I just thought I heard something."

When the returned to their seats Bonnie ordered Ron to switch places with her - and told Kim and Shego to exchange seats so that Kim and Ron could sit together in the middle.

"Why do--"

"You're best friends - just do it!" Bonnie snapped

Kim considered pointing out that she and Ron were living under the same roof and didn't need to sit by each other, but decided not to argue.

As they drove home Bonnie grabbed Ron's shirt and pulled him close, for a loud and passionate kiss.

Kim glanced in the rear-view mirror, "Are you doing that to put ideas in Shego's head? 'Cause I'm driving and it wouldn't be safe."

"Um, eyes on the road, KP," suggested a startled Ron. "Bonnie has to fly back tomorrow morning."

"Take the slow route back to Middleton," Bonnie suggested.

Kim put her foot down on the accelerator.

Back at the house Ron and Bonnie headed upstairs and Jim left for the carriage house apartment. Shego started to say good-night to Kim, but the redhead ordered her to the living room. "Sit," Kim told her - pointing at one end of the couch. Kim sat at the other. "You are going to tell me what in the hell happened at the theater."

"Do you say hell in front of the twins? I'm pretty sure my Mom wouldn't approve."

"First, the twins aren't here. Second, I don't use that language in front of the girls. And third, stop trying to change the subject. What happened?"

"I don't have to tell you anything."

"Yes you do!"

"No I don't"

"Yes, you…" Kim closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We are past this. Please, what happened tonight."

"I don't want to say."

"Why?"

"I think I, uh, fucked up."

"Could you be a little more specific?"

"I, uh, hit on Bonnie."

Kim stared in disbelief. It was a couple minutes before she could speak. "I don't know whether I'm more angry or amused… No, I know I'm more angry. But that is… Bonnie's a major homophobe. Do you have any idea how long it took to get her to accept me as a normal human being?"

"Uh, is that the amused part or the angry part? 'Cause I can't tell."

"That's the amused part. I'll bet that's why she jumped Ron in the backseat - trying to tell you she wasn't interested at all."

"I, uh, think she told me that back at the theater. What's a major homophobe doing living with us?"

"Family lost a lot of money in the recession, and had three daughters in college. She hated living at home more than living with me." Kim waited a moment before asking, "Why did you do that?"

"Because she's hot… Because she seems like a fun person… Apparently I lived under the same roof with her for years, I was wondering if maybe she and I had a little something going on the side…"

"How come you'll make a pass at a woman you don't know at all, and you can't even hold hands with the woman who loves you?" Kim made no effort to hide the bitterness in her voice.

"I guess because I don't know her. Don't remember seeing her before today. Maybe I was hoping to get lucky--"

"And me?"

"Yeah, and what about you? My memories are just of fighting you. Of the two of us disliking each other."

"And how have I treated you since you woke up in the hospital? Have I been anything except loving and supportive? Okay, angry a couple times - but I apologized. I'm the one who bought the tickets for the theater tonight. I don't even like Gilbert and Sullivan that much - nothing compared to the way you like them. Do I get any thanks for trying to make you happy? You won't even hold hands with me - but you'll hit on another woman and hope you might get lucky… I know this isn't fair of me, you can't remember things. But I'm so mad right now I don't know what to do. I could--"

Shego slid over closer to Kim and took the younger woman's hand. "I'm sorry. You're right… This is hard for me. I'm worried I'll never get my memory back. I woke up with my worst enemy saying she was--"

"Best enemy," Kim interrupted.

"Best enemy?"

"It's what we called each other. We were best enemies."

"What if I never remember that? My enemy says she loves me, and is hanging on me--"

"I'm not that clingy!"

"When I'm afraid you're going to hit me and throw me in prison you sure seemed clingy to me."

"That's really how I seemed to you?"

"Really."

"I'm sorry." Kim took her hand from Shego's, and held Shego's hand. "You're going to be fine. I don't know how long it's going to take, but you'll be fine. We're going to be together forever. We need to promise each other, neither one of us can go senile. These last few days have been terrible. I don't want this to happen again, to either of us."

"That's a silly promise."

"I mean it."

"No one can predict something like that."

"If you promise it means you can imagine hope for us. Right this minute I feel like you can't even imagine hope for us."

"I'm sorry, Kim. I promise… What can I do to make it up to you?"

Kim smiled broadly and the younger woman winked, "I can think of a few things."

"I am not going to bed with you."

"You were hoping to get lucky Bonnie, but I'm not good enough for you? What's she got that I don't have?"

Shego sighed, "I told you, it's what she doesn't have. The bad history that's all I can remember."

"How about a kiss?"

"I, uh, am not really sure I'm comfortable with that."

"A hug?"

"Maybe."

"Oh, let me take you out on a date tomorrow night?"

"A date?"

"Sure, you said you didn't count the first four. Let me take us out tomorrow for a real date."

"What about the girls?"

"My folks will watch them for a night. Maybe I can call Tara and have--"

"Who's Tara?"

"Friend from high school. She has a son, Jason, a year older than the twins and a daughter Jessica about a year younger. Anyway, I'm trying to say I'll make sure the twins are gone for the night."

"You hoping to get lucky?" Shego asked nervously.

"I'm just saying we're adults. We can stay out as late as we want, and I don't want us to have to worry about the twins. That's all I'm saying."

"Okay."

"And you can go to bed now. Get a good night's sleep - I'll keep you out late tomorrow."

They both rose from the couch, and Kim impulsively threw her arms around Shego and hugged her. The older woman tensed slightly. "I'm not letting go until you relax and return the hug," the redhead warned.

The green woman cautiously put her arms around Kim.

"That didn't hurt, did it?" Kim asked.

"I guess not… Maybe we can be friends until I get my memory back."

_"I am so getting you in bed tomorrow night."_ Kim promised herself.


	6. Morning Comes and You're Still with Her

Boilerplate Disclaimer: Disney owns the various characters from the Kim Possible series. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

Humbug's _Scenes of Love_ gave me Martini's.

**Morning Comes**

_Well, morning comes and you're still with her  
And the bus and the tourists are gone  
And you've thrown away the choice and lost your ticket  
So you have to stay on_

Bonnie left for her flight back to California before Shego was out of bed the next morning. Both women were probably more comfortable that way.

Shego still didn't have her memory back, and Kim called her mother for assurance that she didn't need to panic - yet.

When Ron got back from the airport he found Kim and Shego with the girls. He looked at Shego and chuckled, "Did you tell Kim what you did last night?"

"Yeah," Shego admitted.

"What did she do?" Kasy asked.

Ron continued talking to Shego, "You should have hit on me, you might have had a chance."

"Ron!" Kim objected.

"Eemah hit someone last night?" Sheki asked. "Who did you hit, Eemah?"

"We are not going to discuss inappropriate behavior in front of the younger generation," Kim warned Ron and Shego.

"What did she say?" Kasy asked Sheki.

"She said she's not going to tell us who Eemah hit."

Ron left for the campus. He had no classes, but he had the distinct impression things were going to be tense around the house and suspected he had already said more than he should.

On a normal day Shego would be at the office, Kim at Global Justice, and someone would watch the girls. But it was not a normal day. Shego could not go to the office, could not remember her own children, and suspected she should feel more guilt for her behavior the night before than she actually felt. Kim had taken time off to be with Shego while she recuperated, and felt more anger towards Shego than she intellectually knew was appropriate. Shego's memory lapse meant she couldn't be held responsible for her actions - but it still hurt that Shego didn't seem interested. This served to make Kim all the more determined to overcome Shego's resistance and get her into bed; she wanted Shego interested in no one but her.

"I need to run a couple loads of laundry," Kim said. "Can we take the girls to the park after that?"

Shego shrugged, "I guess so."

"Why don't you play a game or watch television with them now - I have a couple calls to make for our date tonight."

"Are we coming with you?" Kasy demanded.

"Sorry, Red, but this is another night for Mommy and Eemah. But if it's okay with Eemah we can head to the mall after the park. We might eat lunch there." She turned to Shego, "You can stay home or come to the mall with us. I'd like it if you came shopping."

"Yeah, Whatever."

"Eemah!" Sheki protested, "you won't let us say that."

"You're right, that was rude," Shego admitted and picked her second daughter up, set her on her lap, and gave her a big hug. "I should say that going to the mall with three beautiful women sounds absolutely wonderful."

"And can we get ice cream on the way home?" Kasy suggested.

The green woman turned to Kim, "What do you say, Princess?"

"I say if these two behave we can stop for ice cream - and you get a double scoop for the compliment."

It was late afternoon by the time they got home. "Watch television with the girls for a half hour while I pack overnight bags for them," Kim suggested.

In slightly less than a half hour Kim was back with three bags. "Girls, I'm taking you over to Grandma and Grandpa Possible. Shego, I'm going to get dressed over there." Kim held up the garment bag she was taking for herself. "Take a long soak in the Jacuzzi and then put on the dress on the bed. I'll be back at six-thirty to pick you up."

"What are we doing?"

"Trust me."

"Why does the sound of that scare me?"

"We're starting with dinner. All you need to do tonight is relax and enjoy. Let me take the lead and I'll take very good care of you."

"You're not going to try and get back at me for last night when--"

"Relax and enjoy. I'd never do anything to hurt you."

Ron answered the door when Kim rang the bell at six-thirty. "Lose your key, KP?"

"No, this is like a date, I've come to pick up my date for the night."

He looked her over, "Whoa! You are lookin' good. Big night on the town?"

"I'm hoping for a bigger night back home."

"Don't pressure her, Kim. You're liable to scare her."

"Come on, she was hitting on Bonnie last night. I've got to have a chance. If you can't make a pass at your wife who can you make a pass at?"

"It's just you tend to rush things--"

"Not tonight… Tonight is slow and easy." Kim assumed a harried voice, "Now, where is she, we need to get moving!"

Ron shook his head, "Kim, what am I going to--"

"Just kidding. But, where is she?"

"Girls are never ready on time."

"I was always on time when we were dating."

"That should have been the first clue you were a lesbian."

"Ron!"

"Sorry," he chuckled, "I think she's having a little trouble getting dressed."

Kim closed her eyes and dope-slapped herself. She had picked a dress for Shego that called for someone to zip up the back.

"Go upstairs and tell her that her date's here. Then offer to zip her up."

Ron rapped on the bedroom door, "You about ready?"

"Who rang the bell?"

"Your date. She's here. Need any help with a zipper or anything?"

"Yeah, I don't know how she expected me to--"

"You usually have someone there to help you. Can I open the door?"

"Oh, yeah. Right. Sure, zip me."

"Now, don't go too far on your first date," Ron warned as he zipped her up.

Shego chuckled, then let out an obviously fake sigh, "I promise, _Daddy_."

They linked arms and headed downstairs, he continued to lecture her. "Don't let her pull the old running out of gas line on you. Oh, and take a dime for a pay phone in case your date gets out of line."

"Do they still have pay phones?"

"That's not the point, young lady. You need to…" Ron noticed he'd lost Shego's attention. He glanced down, she'd obviously seen Kim.

"You clean up very nicely," Shego smiled.

Except for the fact Kim's dress bared her left shoulder, and Shego's dress her right, the two were identical in design. But while Shego's simple, elegant sheath was black the one Kim wore was a dark green - which made her red hair stand out all the more vividly in contrast. Around her neck Shego wore the simple strand of jade beads that had been laid out beside the dress on the bed. Kim had a strand of black onyx beads around her throat.

Kim returned the smile, "Thanks, you look lovely tonight."

"Think you could make it any more obvious about our being together?"

"Hey, tonight I want everyone to know you're taken, without anyone seeing the matching tattoos we have on our rears."

Shego's eyes went wide, "What! What tattoos?"

"Well, inside the little heart on your butt it reads, 'KP plus SO'. And on mine--"

Shego turned and took two steps toward the stairs.

Kim panicked, "I'm sorry. I'm teasing you. There are no tattoos."

Shego turned to Ron, "Do I have a tattoo with her initials or not?"

"Not that I know of, but I've never seen your ass… You want to pull up your dress and I'll be happy to check."

"Ron!" both women exclaimed together.

"You started it," Ron reminded Kim. He turned to the older woman, "Shego, Kim is about to apologize - you're going to accept." He then turned to Kim, "Kim apologize. I thought it was very funny, but she's not herself and you need to be careful in what you say."

"I'm sorry."

"I accept."

"You each get three do-overs tonight," Ron told them. "KP, you just spent one of yours. Shego, she loves you very much. The two of you kid around a lot. She's out with the woman she loves and is happy. If that happiness comes out as teasing you then you need to try and laugh. She doesn't want to hurt you. Kim… What I told you earlier."

"Thanks, Ron," Kim said and kissed him on the cheek.

"You're okay," Shego told him, and kissed the other cheek.

"Don't wait up for us," the redhead called over her shoulder as she steered Shego towards the door.

"What did he tell you earlier?" Shego asked as they reached the car.

"Not to put any pressure on you," Kim explained opening the car door for the older woman.

"Sounds good to me," the green woman said as Kim closed the car door and went around to the driver's side.

"So, where are we going tonight?" Shego asked as Kim turned right onto the street in front of their home.

"I'm not going to say, you don't remember it anyway. You get to go to this restaurant again for the first time. I'm hoping you get to do several things you love for the first time tonight."

"Don't know if that sounds like fun or pressure," Shego commented as they drove.

"Fun, definitely," Kim assured her. "Tonight, I lead. Just follow me and you'll enjoy yourself."

There was little conversation on the ride. Shego suspected Kim had lost her mind when she parked in front of what appeared to be a dingy neighborhood bar.

"We got dressed up for this place?" she complained as Kim held the car door open for her.

"Martini's has the most authentic Italian food in the city, probably the state, maybe this side of the Mississippi," Kim told her.

Shego suspicions were confirmed when a long, crowded bar dominated half the small room, but there were a few tables all filled as well. The bartender saw them and waved, pointing to a corner. The table was covered with a snow-white tablecloth, apparently the only table so honored - although the food and plates covering, and diners surrounding, the other tables made it difficult to tell. Kim took Shego's hand and led her back to the corner table.

"God, the Chianti bottle with the candle is so trite," Shego complained.

"Wait for the food," Kim warned.

A minute after they were seated a waitress came over with two small glasses of wine and left without saying a word.

"Where's the menu?" Shego whispered.

"There's really no menu at Martini's. You have what Mama felt like making today - or you set up a special meal in advance. But it's always real Italian."

Shego took a sip of the wine, "Hey, this is good stuff."

"Everything is good here."

A few minutes later a waiter appeared with a large plate of ante-pasta salad. He noticed Kim staring at the platter. "Vegetarian, just the way you like," he assured her. "Dinners will be out in twenty minutes or so."

"What is that? I thought he said vegetarian," Shego demanded pointing to questionable items on the platter.

"Soy salami and pepperoni, and you'd better eat it. Mama got it just for you."

Kim dished artichoke hearts, tomatoes, other vegetables, faux salami, and pieces of Tendaio cheese onto a small salad plate for Shego, then helped herself. "No rush," she told the other woman. "It must be awful to not remember things. What's been the worst part of the week - besides me?"

Shego chuckled slightly, "Besides you? Let's see… All these strangers who think they… No, the worst part… Can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"'Cause I'll sound stupid."

"No you won't."

"Yes I will."

"Please?"

The green woman hesitated, "Promise not to laugh?" Kim nodded. "The first day I was home. It was supposed to be my house, and I didn't know where anything was. I wanted a cup of tea and ended up breaking down and crying."

"It must have really been frustrating," Kim said sympathetically.

"But it's just so stupid! Why should I start crying over a cup of tea?"

"It probably wasn't just the cup of tea. You'd gone through so much and--"

"Like finding out I had kids."

"I think the tea was just the straw that broke the camel's back. It was everything coming at you at once."

"I just felt helpless, I hate that feeling."

"I couldn't take that. You've really done great."

"Sure doesn't feel great."

They continued to chat and nibble as they waited for their meals. Shego suddenly laughed in mid-conversation.

"What's so funny?" Kim demanded.

"The other day, you told me that you were a good listener… You really are."

"Thanks."

A few minutes later two large plates of food arrived at the table. Shego didn't quite catch what Kim told the waiter.

"This looks incredible. What is it?"

"Tuscan salmon. You're going to like it."

The green woman tried a small bite. Her face assumed a look of bliss as she chewed. "Oh, my God. I love this!"

"I knew you would."

"What are you having?"

"I'm just going with what Mama made tonight… Lasagna, it's really incredible."

Their server returned with a half-carafe of wine that he placed in front of Shego. She seemed puzzled. "Nothing for you or yours is still coming?"

"I usually don't drink. You married a designated driver."

Shego looked at the fish, and looked at the half-carafe. "Red wine with fish?"

"Chianti Superiore, it's from Tuscany - and you tell me that you think it goes very well with the Tuscan salmon. Drink it, you like it."

"You're not trying to get me drunk and take advantage of me, are you?" Shego teased.

"I'd have ordered a whole carafe for you if I was going to do that. Anything that happens tonight will be because we both want it to happen."

"Anything that will happen? Sounds like you're planning on something. No pressure, remember?"

"I can hope, can't I? I figure a little wine and one of your favorite meals will lower your resistance just a little."

"And you are a great listener," Shego admitted.

"See, I'm halfway there already."

"You aren't halfway there."

"Well, am I on the right road at least?"

The green woman smiled slightly and raised her wine glass, "You're on the right road. But you're not halfway there."

Kim gently clinked her water glass against the wine glass, "The evening is young."

Shego sighed with contentment as she finished her salmon. "That was incredible."

As the green woman sipped the last of her wine Kim asked, "So, what is it like, to be able to do things you love over again for the first time?"

"Actually… Not bad."

Kim grinned, "Maybe you'll do some other things tonight for the first time, again." The words left Shego slightly nervous, but she said nothing.

When Kim told the waiter they didn't want dessert, Mama stormed out of the kitchen to scold them - and demand to know why they hadn't been there recently with the twins.

They escaped only after promising to return soon - with Kasy and Sheki. "Where to now?" Shego asked as Kim held the car door open for her.

"We're going dancing," Kim said, carefully closing the door.

Shego experience a moment of terror as Kim went around and got in behind the wheel. "I don't dance!"

"You don't remember dancing," Kim corrected her. "I'm hoping your body remembers even if your brain's forgotten. I've taught you things. You've taught me things. I can't get you to stop swearing - although you've cut back. And you can't get me to like Gilbert and Sullivan as much as you do. Dancing is another thing you don't remember, like the salmon. You liked the salmon."

"Do I like dancing?" Shego asked nervously.

"Not as much as I do, but you like the slow numbers when we get to hold each other… Remember, tonight I lead."

Shego took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Martini's had been wonderful, she'd try dancing again for the first time.

Parking was a problem. "I'm glad things are still going well for Alex," Kim remarked as they walked back to the club.

"Alex?"

"Alex Safic… She was in my class in high school. She started the art program at college, then inherited a building from her grandmother. She managed to convert it into a club. Sapphic's Pencil is the place for women to meet women.

There was a line outside the building, but the doorman saw them and unhooked the rope barrier and waved them through.

A tall woman gave them hugs as they entered, "Go over to the north wall - I have a new caricature of you two together."

"Was that Alex?" Shego whispered as they searched the wall.

"Yep… Oh, here we are."

Shego stared at the drawing for minute, "She's good."

"Yeah."

"We're really a couple, aren't we?"

"I'm tempted to say, 'well, duh, I've been telling you that all week,' but I won't. It's just good to hear you say it."

"It still doesn't feel right to me."

"That's okay. At least you're starting to accept it. It would be great if your memory came back while we were on the dance floor."

Getting Shego out on the dance floor proved more difficult than Kim expected. She had forgotten just how reluctant the pale woman had been the first few times she suggested dancing.

A tall, stiff cocktail helped relax the older woman enough that Kim finally managed to coax her out onto the floor.

"Oh, God - I was awful, wasn't I?" Shego groaned as they returned to their table.

"You weren't awful."

"You're a lousy liar."

"No, seriously. You've forgotten what you learned, but you weren't awful."

"I think I need another drink."

"It won't improve your dancing."

"But maybe I won't care what I look like out there."

"You look wonderful," Kim assured her.

"Flattery might get you somewhere," Shego smiled, and gestured for the waitress. Kim ordered another mocktail for herself.

"Careful," Kim warned as she sipped her mango juice with orange soda, "I won't take advantage of a woman when she's drunk."

"But you'll take advantage of a woman when she's sober?"

Kim stuck out her tongue at Shego, "I told you, anything that happens will be because we both want it."

"I don't hop into bed on first dates."

"Yes you have."

Shego frowned, "I cheat on you? I admitted that or you caught me?"

"No… At least I don't think you've cheated on me. But you've told me about your wild youth before we got together."

"Oh, yeah. Have I ever said I was happy about doing that?"

"No, you were never happy. But this is a night for firsts. Maybe, if we end up in bed, this will be another first for you."

The pale woman smiled. "Big maybe. Not sure we're going to end up in bed. What if it's another unhappy one-night stand for me? Oh, worse - what if I like it and start prowling the bars looking for new hook-ups?"

"Then I guess I'll just try harder to keep you happy at home."

They sipped their drinks and watched the dancers for a few more minutes before Shego nervously asked a question which had been on her mind, "Kim?"

"Yes?"

"Am I a good mother? I can't see myself as a mom. I think I'd be lousy at it."

"You're great. I don't think either one of us was ready for it, and there were days when I thought having them was the dumbest thing I'd ever done. We've grown into the role. Actually, you're probably a better mom than I am… But you spoil them almost as bad as our parents do."

The pale woman began to look for the waitress as she finished her second drink, but before she managed to locate one the music shifted to a slow tune, and Kim pulled Shego back onto the floor and took her in her arms.

"I don't know how to--" Shego began nervously.

"I lead, just follow me," Kim reminded her. The redhead put her arms around her partner and told Shego where to place her hands. The older woman seemed a little stiff at first, but the second cocktail and the warmth of Kim's embrace slowly worked their magic and part way through the song she began to relax - finally resting her head on Kim's shoulder. The younger woman smiled, after a couple drinks Shego would sometimes start to sing on the slightest provocation. "Heaven, I'm in heaven," Kim sang softly.

Shego picked up the old Berlin tune, "Heaven, I'm in heaven  
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak  
And I seem to find the happiness I seek  
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek  
Heaven, I'm in heaven  
And the cares that hung around me through the week  
Seem to vanish like a gambler's lucky streak  
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek…  
"Why do I have the sense you just set me up," the pale woman demanded.

"Because I did," Kim admitted. "I don't think I'd ever heard it before the first time you sang it to me… We were dancing here. I thought you'd written it on the spot just for me."

"You're lying, or you think I'm brilliant?"

"I think you're wonderful, and that I'm very lucky to have you."

Perhaps it was Kim's answer, perhaps it was the drinks, but Shego seemed to relax a little more in her arms. Kim held the older woman a little closer, and her arms tightened slightly around Kim.

Shego ordered a third drink, but sipped it more slowly and the two spent most of the time on the dance floor. It took an hour and a half for her to finish the drink. She felt certain Kim wanted to have sex with her and felt nervous at the prospect. The idea still didn't 'feel' right to her, and yet she had intellectually accepted the idea she and Kim were lovers. She wondered if she should order another drink - perhaps it would make it easier to say 'yes' to Kim. Before she could make up her mind Kim announced they needed to leave.

They held hands as they walked back to the car. "I was almost starting to have fun back there," Shego confessed.

"Almost? I was having fun. It was good to hold you again."

Shego laughed, "I think I know why I fell in love with you."

Kim smiled, "I'm glad… Think you could fall in love with me again?"

The pale woman's heart skipped a beat. What should she say? Was this where Kim demanded they have sex when they got home? Should she say yes? She'd slept with men and women whose names she didn't even know - but she'd never spent months fighting them the way she remembered fighting Kim. She changed the subject, "So, uh, we're going home?"

"Not directly, one more stop."

Kim pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant connected with an old hotel. The look of the place was understated elegance. "I thought we'd go to dinner in a place that looked like this," Shego admitted.

"I thought about it, but Martini's is more fun. We sometimes eat here at the Astor. You're having a small glass of sweet wine to finish the evening, and I'm having a cup of coffee and dessert."

"No dessert for me?"

"I'll share mine with you."

After giving their order they held hands and looked into each other's eyes as they waited.

"Your wine," the waiter said, setting a glass down in front of Shego. "Coffee," he set a small, silver creamer down by the cup, "and Chocolate Decadence. _ B__on appétit__!_"

"Isn't it a little late for coffee?"

"Well I have to drive home after I take you to your house."

Shego looked puzzled, "I don't understand what you--"

"Of course, when we get to your place you might ask me to come inside your house for a minute and talk. Maybe you'll offer to let me sleep on your sofa, or something."

The pale woman chuckled, "You're impossible."

"I certainly am. Now, open your mouth." She held up a small forkful of the chocolate dessert and Shego obediently opened her mouth.

The green woman closed her eyes and smiled in ecstasy as she chewed. "Oh, God, that's incredible."

"When we first came here they called it Chocolate Orgasm, but a couple conservative Christian churches in Middleton picketed them and they changed the name."

"They had it right the first time."

* * *

Shego's nerves were still slightly on edge as Kim parked and came around to open her car door. The younger woman had promised no pressure, nothing would happen that Shego didn't want to happen. The problem was that Shego was no longer certain what she wanted to happen. "Going to invite me in to talk for a minute in the living room?" Kim asked

"Uh, sure. Want to talk?"

Kim smiled, "I'd love to. Thanks for asking."

The younger woman hitched up her dress slightly as she sat down on the couch. She spread her legs, and patted the spot in front of her, "Sit here, let me give you a backrub," she invited. Shego sat as directed, and Kim massaged her shoulders and the back of her neck. "Have fun tonight?"

"I did."

"And you didn't use any of your do-overs for the night… Any do-overs you'd like with your life?"

"Not a fair question when I don't have my memory."

"Life's unfair," Kim agreed. Shego thrilled as the Kim gently kissed the back of her neck, then trailed a string of soft kisses down her bare shoulder.

"So, uh, Princess, any do-overs you'd want in your life? Wish we'd never met?"

Kim put her arms around the pale woman and pulled her back against her. "I'm very happy with you… Oh, I have a do-over, I'm sure my first time making love was terrible."

Shego chuckled. "I think it is for everybody, except in fiction. What was your problem? You and Ron? Was that when you found out you were more interested in girls?"

"My first time was a woman I'd wanted for months and months. We finally had a romantic little get-away that she planned. And I got so excited, just being there with her, that I grabbed her and threw her on the nearest bed. I had no idea what I was doing, but she loved me too much to complain." Kim softly kissed the back of Shego's neck again, "I'd give anything to have another first time with her."

The pale woman said nothing, but as she enjoyed Kim's warm embrace she realized she would say 'yes' when Kim asked her to go to bed without any hesitation.

The younger chuckled softly. "You have the chance for some real firsts tonight."

"How's that?"

"You could go to bed with a stranger who knows everything you enjoy. Who knows what you like better than you know yourself - the only person to whom you've admitted some of the things you like in bed. The person who discovered things you don't even remember."

"I don't think I could make that stranger happy."

"All she wants tonight is for you to be happy, for you to have what you want."

The green woman shifted in Kim's arms, so that she was able to see the younger woman's face. Kim took it as a hint, she bent her face towards Shego and their lips met. The kiss began tentatively, but grew in passion as their lips opened and their tongues wrestled for dominance.

"Aren't you going to suggest we go make love?" Shego whispered as the kiss ended.

Kim hugged her tighter. "No. I won't put any pressure on you. Anything that happens tonight happens because we both want it. Your turn to take the lead." Kim kissed her again. The kiss was returned with even greater passion than before; Shego's tongue demanded a continuation of exploring Kim's mouth. "What do you want?" the redhead asked.

"I want you."

"Your wish is my command."

They undressed each other slowly in their bedroom, letting the sense of anticipation build until Shego felt ready to explode.

Kim fulfilled all her promises to Shego, and more, over the next hour and a half.

"Did you like that?" Kim whispered. "That's the first time making love I want you to remember with me."

Shego didn't open her eyes or say a word, but her smile gave Kim all the answer she needed.

* * *

Shego awoke first in the morning. She found herself smiling, and wondered if she had smiled all night. She slipped out of bed without waking Kim and headed down to the kitchen. With the ease of practice she opened the cabinet door with her right hand and, without looking, reached for the coffee filters while her left hand pulled open a drawer and she found the plastic measuring scoop. She was still smiling.

_"Kim was incredible last night. She's usually so lousy in the romance department, but last night she--"_ Shego dropped the measuring scoop in shock and it clattered onto the floor. She remembered everything.

She remembered the two children, running and laughing instead of looking for traffic as they darted out into the street. She remembered the squeal as the truck driver hit the brakes. She remembered the children, rooted in fear and screaming as the truck bore down on them. Shego wondered why she had acted. Probably some maternal instinct kicking in - the girl had been about the same age as the twins, it certainly wasn't self-preservation kicking in. She'd pushed the children out of the way, but had no time to avoid the truck herself. The front of the truck seemed huge - the grill as large as a house as it came at her. She remembered thinking she was going to die. She felt grateful she did not remember the impact itself. The brakes must have slowed the truck enough for her to survive - that and her comet-enhanced strength and healing abilities.

Shaken, Shego sat down on a chair to calm down. Maybe getting her memory back wasn't purely good if she had to remember that. At least everyone would be happy her memory was back.

Kim had never been as romantic as she was last night. The evening had been magic. The lovemaking had been tender and intense. She had never experienced love-making like that before.

_"Kim owes me,"_ the green woman decided. There had been too many nights of 'wham, bam, thank you ma'am' and not enough romance. Shego decided that her memory had not come back. It would disappoint everyone. She knew they were all worried about her and another day of amnesia would be hard on them, but Shego wanted one more night like the night before. She could regain her memory tomorrow morning.

She needed to send Kim flowers for last night, a bouquet of her favorite… No, she shouldn't know Kim's favorite flowers. Maybe a bouquet of flowers that weren't Kim's favorites…

Shego went back to making coffee. Where should she suggest Kim take her tonight? A new place had opened in Upperton Shego wanted to try, _"Scratch that," _Shego scolded herself. _ "If I've got amnesia I don't know I've been wanting to go there."_ Maybe the safest approach would be to stay out of Kim's way and let her decide - she had done a great job last night. Shego could take the girls to the zoo today, _"Wait a minute, do I even know about the Middleton zoo? Damn, amnesia is going to be hard work."_ Shego thought about last night. Amnesia might be hard work, but it would be worth it for one more night like that.

On the other hand, if she messed up in her deception - and was discovered - Kim would be royally pissed off with her. Kim, the twins, everyone, was worried sick about her and wanted to hear she had recovered her memory. It wasn't fair to them to hide the truth. Last night was incredible. Kim tended to be more concerned about the destination than the trip there - last night's journey of discovery, finding out things she didn't know about herself had been the most incredible night of her life… Tonight couldn't possibly as good, tonight there could be no surprises. It might be worth trying to find out.

Shego wondered if memory could return gradually? Maybe she'd remember some things and need help with others. She almost called Anne, but realized asking the question might reveal the truth. Perhaps she could go upstairs with a cup of coffee and read about it on the internet. Gradual return of memory sounded good - if she 'remembered' something by accident she was covered. Everyone would be encouraged that she was getting better… She wished she had done reading on global transient amnesia earlier in the week. If Kim just stayed asleep a little while longer…

Shego also managed to remember something Kim had promised when she first saw Shego in the hospital, a reward she'd never forget. Shego smiled, Kim had set the bar very high last night. It would be hard to top that. But the green woman had a lot of faith in her partner. To celebrate the return of Shego's memory and the act of heroism Kim would come up with something spectacular. _ "Anything is possible for a Possible,"_ Shego reminded herself.

As Shego leaned against the counter, trying to decide what to do, Kim entered the kitchen. The redhead paused and inhaled the aroma of the brewing coffee. "Last night was wonderful! How long until the coffee's done?"

"Almost there Princess."

Kim put her arms around Shego. The green woman smiled, and the redhead gently kissed her. "How are you doing this morning?"

_But the drum-beat strains of the night remain  
In the rhythm of the new-born day  
You know sometime you're bound to leave her  
But for now you're going to stay  
In the year of the cat_

--The End--

Risk vs. reward, how should Shego answer?


End file.
